COLLEGE FOOTBALL RANKINGS: Notre Dame continues at #3 in CFP Rankings, AP and Coaches Poll heading into Southern Cal; Irish only top-4 team with win over another top-4 team, as currently ranked
Undefeated Notre Dame (11-0) hung onto their #3 ranking in the College Football Playoff Rankings, AP and Coaches Poll after their decisive 36-3 win over then-#12 Syracuse at Yankee Stadium. The Fighting Irish continue to be the only top-4 team that has beaten another top-4 team, as currently ranked. That fact alone should have propelled Notre Dame into the #1 spot.
Additionally, Notre Dame just had a much stronger showing than #2 Clemson against a common opponent. Earlier in the season, Syracuse was beating Clemson, at Clemson, heading into the final minute of the game, before Clemson edged out the Orange by four points. In contrast, Notre Dame just pummeled Syracuse by nearly five touchdowns, at a neutral site in Syracuse’s home state. Yet Clemson continues its baffling hold on the #2 spot.
The only remaining undefeated teams in Div. I-A/FBS are #1 Alabama, #2 Clemson, #3 Notre Dame and #9 Central Florida (UCF).
Notre Dame opponents currently in the top-25 include #4 Michigan, #19 Northwestern, #20 Syracuse and #24 Pitt. Additionally, Stanford is receiving votes in the AP.
(Notre Dame opponents marked in dark blue)
College Football Playoff Rankings
1 Alabama 11-0
2 Clemson 11-0
3 Notre Dame 11-0
4 Michigan 10-1
5 Georgia 10-1
6 Oklahoma 10-1
7 LSU 9-2
8 Washington State 10-1
9 UCF 10-0
10 Ohio State 10-1
11 Florida 8-3
12 Penn State 8-3
13 West Virginia 8-2
14 Texas 8-3
15 Kentucky 8-3
16 Washington 8-3
17 Utah 8-3
18 Mississippi State 7-4
19 Northwestern 7-4
20 Syracuse 8-3
21 Utah State 10-1
22 Texas A&M 7-4
23 Boise State 9-2
24 Pittsburgh 7-4
25 Iowa State 6-4
(first-place votes in parentheses)
AP
Rank Team Record Points
1 Alabama (61) 11-0 1525
2 Clemson 11-0 1455
3 Notre Dame 11-0 1412
4 Michigan 10-1 1327
5 Georgia 10-1 1288
6 Oklahoma 10-1 1182
7 Washington State 10-1 1149
8 UCF 10-0 1064
LSU 9-2 1064
10 Ohio State 10-1 1019
11 Texas 8-3 856
12 West Virginia 8-2 822
13 Florida 8-3 707
14 Utah State 10-1 667
15 Penn State 8-3 659
16 Washington 8-3 631
17 Kentucky 8-3 508
18 Utah 8-3 491
19 Syracuse 8-3 427
20 Northwestern 7-4 307
21 Boise State 9-2 287
22 Mississippi State 7-4 260
23 Army 9-2 176
24 Pittsburgh 7-4 129
25 Iowa State 6-4 123
Also receiving votes: Fresno State 100, NC State 45, Cincinnati 43, Missouri 34, Texas A&M 29, Auburn 11, Stanford 8, Iowa 8, UAB 5, Houston 3, Wisconsin 2, Troy 1, Buffalo 1
Coaches Poll
Rank Team Record Points
1 Alabama(63) 11-0 1599
2 Clemson(1) 11-0 1535
3 Notre Dame 11-0 1470
4 Michigan 10-1 1387
5 Georgia 10-1 1347
6 Oklahoma 10-1 1252
7 Washington State 10-1 1195
8 LSU 9-2 1115
9 UCF 10-0 1108
10 Ohio State 10-1 1091
11 Texas 8-3 816
12 West Virginia 8-2 766
13 Florida 8-3 748
14 Penn State 8-3 742
15 Utah State 10-1 704
16 Washington 8-3 687
17 Utah 8-3 551
18 Kentucky 8-3 502
19 Syracuse 8-3 432
20 Mississippi State 7-4 397
21 Northwestern 7-4 302
22 Boise State 9-2 297
23 Fresno State 9-2 119
24 Army 9-2 97
25 Pittsburgh 7-4 90
Also receiving votes: Iowa State 85, Cincinnati 74, Texas A&M 57, NC State 51, Wisconsin 32, Missouri 27, Boston College 22, Auburn 20, Appalachian State 18, Troy 16, Iowa 12, UAB 12, Georgia State 10, Duke 7, Oklahoma State 3, Virginia 2, Georgia Southern 1, Buffalo 1, South Carolina 1
Notre Dame, of course, partners with the ACC, with roughly half of Notre Dame’s schedule being against ACC teams, with the annual mix, and multi-year rotation, worked out with the ACC itself. Another third of Notre Dame’s schedule this year is against the B1G/Big Ten and PAC-12, plus one SEC opponent. So Notre Dame plays a mix of ten power conference opponents, plus Navy (of the American), plus one MAC opponent.
Central Florida was the only undefeated team in Div. I-A/FBS last year, yet the NCAA College Football Playoff Committee left them out of the College Football Playoff, instead inviting not one, but two, SEC teams with losses. Central Florida responded by beating yet another SEC team in a major bowl game, beating Auburn in the Peach Bowl. Two games previous, Auburn had beaten Alabama, the supposed “playoff champion” only to later lose to Central Florida.
Once again, Alabama and Georgia do not play in the regular season. Georgia has not played in Tuscaloosa in more than a decade, not since 2007.
The artificial suppression of Central Florida’s ranking is an added blow to the credibility of the would-be “playoff” that still is a fairly young work in progress. That kind of fiasco, failing to cover all bases and address all relevant teams, was precisely the kind of problem that a playoff was supposed to resolve. Instead, the playoff is threatening to simply turn into a more bloated, distorted version of the mess that was the BCS, leaving out one or more key teams from the equation.
