Where Notre Dame football ranks in Week 10 AP Poll after beating Pitt
If Notre Dame keeps doing what the Fighting Irish did Saturday in a 58-7 win over Pittsburgh, head coach Marcus Freeman‘s team could find its way back into the top 10 by the end of the regular season.
The Irish’s rise started with a 48-20 drubbing of the USC Trojans on Oct. 14. That came after a dismal 33-20 loss to Louisville the week prior. That defeat dropped Notre Dame down to No. 21 in the Associated Press Top 25.
Now, the Irish are ranked No. 12 in the AP Poll going into Week 10. They were No. 14 prior to the Pitt game.
None of the teams left on the Irish’s schedule — Clemson (4-4), Wake Forest (4-4) and Stanford (2-6) — are ranked. So there aren’t necessarily opportunities for Notre Dame to notch marquee wins, but a 10-2 record at the end of November would speak for itself. That would be two wins better than the 8-4 record Freeman laid down in his first year on the job.
Top 10
- 1
Elko pokes at Kiffin
A&M coach jokes over kick times
- 2
Dan Lanning
Oregon coach getting NFL buzz
- 3Trending
UK upsets Duke
Mark Pope leads Kentucky to first Champions Classic win since 2019
- 4Hot
5-star flip
Ole Miss flips Alabama WR commit Caleb Cunningham
- 5
Second CFP Top 25
Newest CFP rankings are out
Obviously, there is work to be done to get to double digits. A win at Clemson’s Death Valley is never a given no matter how poorly the Tigers have played this season. And Wake Forest will be amped up to get after former Demon Deacons quarterback Sam Hartman, a longtime starter in Winston-Salem, N.C. Stanford, for as bad as 2-6 looks on paper, just played the powerhouse Washington Huskies to a 42-33 shootout in Palo Alto.
The losses to Ohio State and Louisville will always be black marks on the 2023 Notre Dame season. The Irish blew a late lead against the Buckeyes and had 10 men on the field for the game-winning OSU touchdown. They flat-out didn’t show up against a Louisville team that got boat raced by the same Pitt team the Irish just smacked by 51 points.
College football can be quirky like that. It’s why you take any win when you can get one, and the Irish have 10 of them in their sights entering the final fourth of the season.
Week 10 AP Top 25
- Georgia (8-0)
- Michigan (8-0)
- Ohio State (8-0)
- Florida State (8-0)
- Washington (8-0)
- Oregon (7-1)
- Texas (7-1)
- Alabama (7-1)
- Penn State (7-1)
- Oklahoma (7-1)
- Ole Miss (7-1)
- Notre Dame (7-2)
- LSU (6-2)
- Missouri (7-1)
- Louisville (7-1)
- Oregon State (6-2)
- Air Force (8-0)
- Utah (6-2)
- Tennessee (6-2)
- UCLA (6-2)
- Tulane (7-1)
- Kansas (6-2)
- James Madison (8-0)
- USC (7-2)
- Kansas State (6-2)
