College Football Rankings: Big ‘Notre Dame’ win over SEC’s Arkansas barely nudges the Fighting Irish in the polls

College Football Rankings, Featured, Headlines, Irish Game Day
U.S. Map, adapted from image at usda.gov

After blowing out the SEC’s Arkansas Razorbacks 56-13 on Saturday, the Fighting Irish jumped only one spot to #21 in the AP and merely held steady at #21 in the Coaches Poll.

Nevertheless, the Irish are the only 2-2 team ranked at all, and the only ranked team that does not have winning record, sitting at .500.

Indeed, they are ranked ahead of a 4-0 BYU and several one-loss teams.  Multiple additional undefeated teams also linger in the “also receiving votes” category, Navy and Houston in the Coaches Poll.

The Irish and their opponents are in boldface below.

– AP –

1 Ohio State 4-0
2 Oregon 5-0
3 Miami (Fla.) 4-0
4 Ole Miss 5-0
5 Oklahoma 4-0
6 Texas A&M 4-0*
7 Penn State 3-1
8 Indiana 5-0
9 Texas 3-1
10 Alabama 3-1
11 Texas Tech 4-0
12 Georgia 3-1
13 LSU 4-1
14 Iowa State 5-0
15 Tennessee 4-1
16 Vanderbilt 5-0
17 Georgia Tech 5-0
18 Florida State 3-1
19 Missouri 5-0
20 Michigan 3-1
21 Notre Dame 2-2
22 Illinois 4-1
23 BYU 4-0
24 Virginia 4-1
25 Arizona State 4-1

Also receiving votes:Auburn 122, Mississippi State 102, South Florida 77, Utah 45, Arizona State 30, Memphis 23, Louisville 23, Maryland 6, UNLV 3, UCF 3, North Texas 2

 – AFCA Coaches Poll –

1 Ohio State 4-0
2 Oregon 5-0
3 Miami (Fla.) 4-0
4 Ole Miss 5-0
5 Texas A&M 4-0*
6 Penn State 3-1
7 Texas 3-1
8 Oklahoma 4-0
9 Indiana 5-0
10 Georgia 3-0
11 Alabama 3-1
12 Iowa State 5-0
13 LSU 4-1
14 Texas Tech 4-0
15 Tennessee 4-1
16 Georgia Tech 5-0
17 Vanderbilt 5-0
18 Missouri 5-0
19 Florida State 3-1
20 Michigan 3-1
21 Notre Dame 2-2
22 Illinois 4-1
23 BYU 4-0
24 Arizona State 4-1
25 Utah 4-1

Also receiving votes: Memphis 88, Louisville 83, Virginia 63, South Florida 29, Maryland 17, USC 17, Auburn 12, UNLV 11, Navy 9, Mississippi State 9, Tulane 8, Washington 7, North Texas 7, TCU 6, Nebraska 4, Duke 4, Iowa 3, Houston 1

(* Texas A&M wins include one where the winning touchdown in the final seconds was essentially the result of cheating, when, on the Aggies’ last offensive play of the game, an Aggie offensive lineman tackled a pass rusher from behind as he was barreling towards the quarterback; but an SEC officiating crew ignored the penalty and did not throw a flag; without the cheating and/or the non-call, the Aggies likely would be 2-1)