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Where Notre Dame football ranks in AP Top 25 after beating Stanford

IMG_9992by:Tyler Horka•11/26/23•

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Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman rushes for a gain vs. Stanford. (Photo by Jim Holtan)

Notre Dame (9-3) thumped Stanford on Saturday, 56-23, to finish the 2023 regular season with one more win than the Fighting Irish had in 2022. Associated Press Poll voters rewarded the Irish with another climb in the AP Top 25.

Sunday, Notre Dame came in at No. 16 in the poll.

As is customarily the case for the Irish this week, they’ll be off and resting at home while other teams play in their respective conference championship games. A week from today, we’ll learn against who and where the Irish will play in a bowl game in an attempt to win 10-plus games for the sixth time in the last seven seasons.

If Notre Dame loses the bowl game, the Irish will finish with the same exact record in head coach Marcus Freeman’s second season as they did in the first. The program will have taken two different paths to 9-4, but the record is the record. The rhetoric and messaging coming from Freeman in the next several weeks will likely be this: Notre Dame needs to win this postseason game. Getting to 10 wins is a goal that must be made good on.

Of course, who’s suiting up for the Irish in their push for double digits will also be harped on quite a bit. Junior running back Audric Estimé, who just had a career day in rushing 25 times for 238 yards and 4 touchdowns vs. Stanford, junior left tackle Joe Alt and graduate student cornerback Cam Hart are candidates to opt out of the bowl game to prepare for the NFL Draft. Keep an eye on graduate student quarterback Sam Hartman, too.

Decisions on their futures likely won’t be made until the bowl game opponent and destination is set in stone, but the busy weeks of silly season, when players and coaches move around to different programs like leaves falling off trees this team of year, is here.

Week 14 AP Top 25

  1. Georgia (12-0)
  2. Michigan (12-0)
  3. Washington (12-0)
  4. Florida State (12-0)
  5. Oregon (11-1)
  6. Ohio State (11-1)
  7. Texas (11-1)
  8. Alabama (11-1)
  9. Missouri (10-2)
  10. Penn State (10-2)
  11. Ole Miss (10-2)
  12. Oklahoma (10-2)
  13. LSU (9-3)
  14. Arizona (9-3)
  15. Louisville (10-2)
  16. Notre Dame (9-3)
  17. Tulane (11-1)
  18. Iowa (10-2)
  19. Oklahoma State (9-3)
  20. Liberty (12-0)
  21. NC State (9-3)
  22. Oregon State (8-4)
  23. Toledo (11-1)
  24. James Madison (11-1)
  25. SMU (10-2)

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