Wasserman lists Notre Dame among ‘overrated’ in AFCA Coaches Poll

Not everyone likes the Irish’s preseason ranking.

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The first USA TODAY AFCA Coaches Poll is out, and, as expected, Notre Dame is ranked highly. In fact, the Irish claim the seventh spot in the poll. However, not everybody agrees that they should be ranked that high. One such person is Ari Wasserman of The Athletic.

In a piece available only to subscribers, Wasserman lists the programs he thought were overrated and underrated in the poll. Notre Dame is one of four programs he puts in his “overrated” column. The others are North Carolina, Ohio State and Alabama.

In explaining his decision to call the Irish’s ranking too high, he mentions an almost entirely new offensive line having to block for a transfer quarterback in Jack Coan, who is expected to win the starting job. He also doesn’t believe that the team is built for consecutive College Football Playoff appearances. If it were up to him, he would have placed the Irish outside of the top 10.

What do you think? Are the Irish right to be ranked seventh in the preseason poll, or would you have placed them somewhere else?