COLLEGE FOOTBALL RANKINGS: Notre Dame sustains #3 spot in last AP and Coaches Poll prior to first 2018 College Football Playoff Rankings
Undefeated Notre Dame (8-0) hung onto their #3 ranking in what is the final AP and Coaches Polls before the season’s first NCAA College Football Playoff Rankings are announced on Tuesday, Oct. 30. The Fighting Irish continue to be the only top-5 team that has beaten another top-5 team, as currently ranked. That fact alone should have propelled Notre Dame into the #1 spot, since neither #1 Alabama nor #2 Clemson can make the claim that they have beaten a top-5 opponent.
With a loss by South Florida, the only remaining undefeated teams in Div. I-A/FBS are #1 Alabama, #2 Clemson, #3 Notre Dame and #9 Central Florida.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame opponent Michigan (7-1), whose only loss was a close game at Notre Dame in the season opener, hung in at #5 after their bye week, most recently beating Michigan State.
Future Notre Dame opponent Syracuse (6-2) finally jumped into the rankings at #22/#24 after beating then-ranked North Carolina State, making the Orangemen the only team besides Clemson to beat the Gamecocks. Stanford (5-3) dropped out of the rankings after losing to top-10 Washington State. Yet Notre Dame opponents Stanford, Virginia Tech and Pitt are getting votes in at least one poll, as well as Northwestern, whom Notre Dame takes on next weekend in Evanston.
While, of course, both the AP and Coaches Poll will issue rankings all the way until the season’s end, their relevance will morph somewhat after the first official NCAA College Playoff Rankings come out on Tuesday, Oct. 30 (after deliberations and discussion by the College Football Playoff Committee in accordance with the College Football Playoff Selection Committee Voting Process).
(first-place votes in parentheses) (Notre Dame opponents marked in dark blue)
AP
Rank Team Record Points
1 Alabama (60) 8-0 1500
2 Clemson 8-0 1433
3 Notre Dame 8-0 1374
4 LSU 7-1 1317
5 Michigan 7-1 1240
6 Georgia 7-1 1202
7 Oklahoma 7-1 1132
8 Ohio State 7-1 1022
9 UCF 7-0 1014
10 Washington State 7-1 938
11 Kentucky 7-1 905
12 West Virginia 6-1 891
13 Florida 6-2 734
14 Penn State 6-2 733
15 Texas 6-2 719
16 Utah 6-2 593
17 Houston 7-1 403
18 Utah State 7-1 340
19 Iowa 6-2 323
20 Fresno State 7-1 261
21 Mississippi State 5-3 204
22 Syracuse 6-2 192
23 Virginia 6-2 175
24 Boston College 6-2 169
25 Texas A&M 5-3 132
Also receiving votes: Washington 120, Northwestern 86, Georgia Southern 62, Michigan State 51, Cincinnati 45, Iowa State 42, South Florida 29, Stanford 26, Oklahoma State 24, UAB 17, Oregon 13, Wisconsin 12, Auburn 7, San Diego State 6, Army 6, NC State 5, California 2, Buffalo 1
Coaches Poll
Rank Team Record Points
1 Alabama (62) 8-0 1598
2 Clemson (2) 8-0 1537
3 Notre Dame 8-0 1458
4 LSU 7-1 1403
5 Michigan 7-1 1295
Georgia 7-1 1295
7 Oklahoma 7-1 1190
8 Ohio State 7-1 1096
9 UCF 7-0 1082
10 West Virginia 6-1 992
11 Washington State 7-1 962
12 Kentucky 7-1 932
13 Penn State 6-2 791
14 Florida 6-2 743
15 Texas 6-2 721
16 Utah 6-2 620
17 Houston 7-1 380
18 Iowa 6-2 356
19 Washington 6-3 285
20 Utah State 7-1 281
21 Mississippi State 5-3 226
22 Virginia 6-2 207
23 Fresno State 7-1 191
24 Syracuse 6-2 183
25 Boston College 6-2 171
Also receiving votes: Texas A&M 167, Cincinnati 116, South Florida 87, Michigan State 48, Wisconsin 41, Northwestern 40, NC State 40, Miami 38, Georgia Southern 32, Oklahoma State 31, UAB 24, Auburn 21, Stanford 21, Oregon 20, San Diego State 16, Buffalo 14, Army 13, South Carolina 11, Florida Intl 6, Iowa State 6, Virginia Tech 5, Pittsburgh 3, Duke 3, Boise State 2
Notre Dame, of course, partners with the ACC, with roughly half of Notre Dame’s schedule being against ACC teams, with the mix worked out with the ACC itself. Another third of Notre Dame’s schedule this year is against the PAC-12 and B1G/Big Ten, plus one SEC opponent. So Notre Dame plays a mix of ten power conference opponents, plus Navy (of the American), plus one MAC opponent.
Next week, Alabama does play nominal-#4 LSU. The SEC already has yet another three-way trail of losses on the year, with LSU having lost to two-loss Florida, Georgia having just routed Florida, with LSU completing the circle by having routed Georgia earlier in the year. The AP and Coaches Poll have LSU and Georgia crowding the top-6.
Quite truthfully, Michigan should have been ranked ahead of LSU since Michigan’s only loss was to undefeated top-3 Notre Dame, while LSU lost to two-loss Florida.
Alabama and Georgia do not play in the regular season.
