We tend to react when national college voices weigh in on Notre Dame gets mentioned, whether it’s good or bad.
This week you’ve seen us post a few different “Too Early Top 25” rankings that various college football writers have offered. We reacted to one by considering firing it into the sun while the other we dissected, we pretty much fell in line with.
Now we have one that has ranked Notre Dame higher than any we’ve seen this week.
From Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde:
9. Notre Dame
There are two attractive but difficult additions to the schedule: Clemson at home and Wisconsin at Lambeau Field. Those are in addition to games at USC and Pittsburgh. But with Ian Book and most of the offensive line returning, Brian Kelly has some building blocks. There are a lot of good players to replace on defense. The recruiting consistency of the Fighting Irish will come into play there.
Notre Dame coming in at nine placed them a spot ahead of national champion LSU which may come as a shock to some. The Irish also come in one spot behind Florida who is fresh-off an Orange Bowl victory and 11-2 season.
Three 2020 Notre Dame opponents show up on the list with Clemson being top-rated in the nation and Wisconsin checking in at 13 and USC at 16. Simple logic leads you to understand why the November 7 showdown with Clemson could very easily be the biggest game at Notre Dame Stadium since The Game of the Century versus Florida State in 1993.