Where Notre Dame ranks in first 2023 ESPN SP+ rankings
The Super Bowl is in the rearview mirror. The next major regular season football game, professional or college, will be played between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Navy Midshipmen in Dublin, Ireland, on Aug. 26.
That’s over six months away, but the first ESPN SP+ rankings for the 2023 season are out today. It’s time to start counting down the days — 193 to be exact.
Bill Connelly’s inaugural rankings — which combine algorithms for returning production, recent recruiting and recent history to come up with offensive, defensive and overall metrics that analytically forecast which teams should be the best in the country — were revealed early Tuesday morning. A score of 0.0 is completely average. The higher the number, the better the team.
“These are simply early offseason power rankings based on the information we have been able to gather to date,” Connelly wrote.
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Predictably, Georgia is No. 1 with an overall rating of 31.7. Notre Dame ranks No. 15 with an overall rating of 18.9, which is the exact same mark Oklahoma received. Here’s a look at the entire top 15 including offensive and defensive figures.
| Team | Rating | Offense | Defense |
| 1. Georgia | 31.7 | 42.4 (6) | 10.7 (2) |
| 2. Ohio State | 30.0 | 46.3 (1) | 16.3 (10) |
| 3. Michigan | 28.8 | 41.8 (8) | 13.0 (4) |
| 4. Alabama | 27.5 | 43.4 (5) | 15.9 (9) |
| 5. Penn State | 24.4 | 37.9 (21) | 13.5 (5) |
| 6. Tennessee | 24.1 | 46.0 (2) | 21.8 (32) |
| 7. LSU | 23.5 | 41.1 (10) | 17.5 (14) |
| 8. Oregon | 21.6 | 44.2 (4) | 22.7 (38) |
| 9. Texas | 21.4 | 39.2 (14) | 17.8 (16) |
| 10. USC | 21.3 | 45.3 (3) | 24.1 (46) |
| 11. Florida State | 20.9 | 36.6 (26) | 15.7 (8) |
| 12. Clemson | 20.0 | 36.4 (28) | 16.5 (12) |
| 13. Utah | 19.0 | 39.5 (12) | 20.5 (25) |
| 14. Oklahoma | 18.9 | 41.2 (9) | 22.3 (36) |
| 15. Notre Dame | 18.9 | 36.6 (25) | 17.7 (15) |
The Irish face three teams (Ohio State, USC and Clemson) that appear ahead of them in the first SP+ rankings. Utah and former Irish offensive coordinator target Andy Ludwig have a better overall and offensive rating than Notre Dame, too. Former Irish head coach Brian Kelly has LSU slotted as a consensus top 15 offensively and defensively and No. 7 overall.
The only College Football Playoff participant from this past season not appearing in the top 15 is TCU. The Horned Frogs come in at No. 19. The other three CFP teams from the 2022 campaign (defending national champion Georgia, Ohio State and Michigan) are in the top three.
