Notre Dame ranks No. 13 in preseason Associated Press Poll
For the first time since 2018, Notre Dame is not ranked inside the preseason Associated Press Poll top 10. The Fighting Irish checked in at No. 13 Monday afternoon.
The last time Notre Dame started the season at exactly No. 13 in the AP Top 25, the Fighting Irish went on to win the 1988 national championship. That season prompted a stretch of eight straight seasons of preseason top-10 AP poll placements from 1989-1996.
Notre Dame was No. 5 in last year’s preseason AP poll, which was the Irish’s highest preseason ranking since 2006 when the program appeared at No. 2 with head coach Charlie Weiss and quarterback Brady Quinn calling the shots.
Just like in 2006, the 2022 version of the Irish did not live up to expectations. Head coach Marcus Freeman guided the team to a 9-4 record and a No. 18 finish in the final AP poll of the season. That was Notre Dame’s worst postseason AP poll finish since not appearing in the poll at all in 2016.
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Expectations are a bit tempered for Freeman and the Irish in year two of his tenure, even with the addition of Wake Forest graduate transfer quarterback Sam Hartman. That has much to do with a tough schedule. Notre Dame has to face three of the top 10 teams in the preseason AP poll; No. 3 Ohio State, No. 6 USC and No. 9 Clemson.
FBS coaches are not as high on Notre Dame as usual, either. Last week, the Irish also came in at No. 13 in the preseason USA Today Coaches Poll. There is definitely a “prove it to me” type of feeling attached to this Notre Dame football season rather than the benefit of the doubt.
Notre Dame kicks off the entire 2023 college football season with a Week 0 season opener vs. Navy at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, at 2:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 26. The Irish return home for a Week 1 home opener vs. Tennessee State at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sept. 2. It will be the first time the ND program has ever faced an FCS opponent.
Here is a look at the entire preseason AP Top 25.
- Georgia
- Michigan
- Ohio State
- Alabama
- LSU
- USC
- Penn State
- Florida State
- Clemson
- Washington
- Texas
- Tennessee
- Notre Dame
- Utah
- Oregon
- Kansas State
- TCU
- Oregon State
- Wisconsin
- Oklahoma
- North Carolina
- Ole Miss
- Texas A&M
- Tulane
- Iowa
