AP Top 25: Notre Dame stays in poll despite 0-2 start; Texas A&M moves up to No. 10

Notre Dame became the first team in 37 years to start a season 0-2 and remain ranked, landing No. 24 on Sunday in the AP Top 25, with Texas A&M moving up six spots to No. 10 after beating the Fighting Irish.

No. 1 Ohio State received 55 first-place votes to remain atop the poll for the third straight week. No. 2 Penn State (five first-place votes) and No. 3 LSU (two first-place votes) also held their spots.

Miami moved up a place to No. 4 and received three first-place votes after romping past South Florida. Georgia jumped a spot to No. 5 after it beat Tennessee in overtime. The Volunteers remained 15th in the poll.

Oregon slipped two spots to No. 6 and received a first-place vote. Florida State moved up three spots to No. 7, taking advantage of Notre Dame’s loss and some struggles from Texas. The preseason No. 1 Longhorns are down to No. 8 after a sloppy victory against UTEP. No. 9 Illinois and Texas A&M round out the top 10.

Notre Dame lost 41-40 to the Aggies on Saturday night in South Bend, Ind., the second close loss of the season to a ranked team for the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame opened the season falling 27-24 at Miami.

The last team to start a season 0-2 and remain ranked was Michigan in 1988. The Wolverines started that season No. 9 and lost by two points at No. 13 Notre Dame and then 31-30 at home to No. 1 Miami. Those Wolverines did not lose again and finished the season 9-2-1 and No. 4 in the country. Two other teams have been ranked at 0-2: Auburn in 1984 after being preseason No. 1 and SMU in 1958.

Others receiving votes: BYU 94, South Florida 83, South Carolina 82, Mississippi State 69, TCU 67, Arizona St. 57, Tulane 33, Louisville 25, Nebraska 9, Baylor 6, Clemson 6, SMU 4, NC State 4, UNLV 2, Navy 1

Also considered by Ralph: Vanderbilt, USC, Nebraska, Auburn

Why I voted Notre Dame 15th

Spiritually, ties still exist to me in college football.

Ultimately, wins and losses are all that matter, and since overtime was implemented in college football in 1996, every game has a winner and a loser. Still, there are times when you walk away from a game thinking: Those teams are basically the same.

Notre Dame has played only two games, both bangers against opponents that I’m convinced rank among the best teams in the country. I was relatively skeptical about Miami — compared to the consensus — coming into the season, but the Hurricanes have positively answered questions about Carson Beck’s health, his receivers and their defense so far. I was ahead of the curve on Texas A&M in the preseason, and Marcel Reed and the Aggies have only validated that optimism.

The Fighting Irish have played both those teams virtually even. Two losses by four points. No doubt the Irish earned those losses, but how many other teams in the country have shown they can go toe-to-toe with Playoff contenders twice?

The answer would be zero.

The question to me was never whether to rank the Fighting Irish this week, but where? I came up with No. 15. There I could use Notre Dame to draw a line between teams that have either built a solid resume (Iowa State) or shown some ability to compete at the highest level (Tennessee) — or some combination of the two — and those teams that have played well without a real signature game (Utah, for example).

I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the highest ranking any of the voters have for Notre Dame this week, but I can live with being an outlier.

Notre Dame moves into a milder portion of its schedule now, though after Purdue this week, at Arkansas, Boise State, NC State and USC aren’t all that easy. The Trojans are ranked for the first time this season at No. 25, putting them back-to-back with their Midwest rivals.

I think the lack of rigor of Notre Dame’s schedule the rest of the way has been overstated by some, and the Irish could still reach the 12-team Playoff by running the table (Austin Mock’s projections still give them a 20 percent chance). Especially if the Aggies and Hurricanes remain in the thick of the CFP race.

Much like the College Football Playoff selection committee, I hate to project what I might do in the coming weeks. Every decision is based on multiple results. But as things stand now, I’ll probably be less aggressive with the Irish if they do go on a winning streak and more punitive if they pick up another loss soon.

In and out

From Nov. 23, 2014, through Oct. 2, 2021, Clemson made 107 straight poll appearances, tied for the 18th-longest streak in the history of the poll, according to College Poll Archive.

While the Tigers have still managed to finish the season ranked in every season since their program-best streak was snapped, they also spent almost all of the 2023 season unranked, too. And now, after starting No. 4, Clemson is unranked again. The Tigers plummeted from No. 12 to out.

The Tigers dropped to 1-2 for the first time since 2014, losing on a walk-off field goal to Georgia Tech on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets (3-0) used that victory to jump back into the rankings at No. 18. Georgia Tech made a one-week appearance in the Top 25 early last season to snap a nine-year drought.

It was just a rough week overall for the state of South Carolina. The Gamecocks also lost Saturday, a decisive 31-7 setback to Vanderbilt that included quarterback LaNorris Sellers sitting out the entire second half. Sellers departed after taking a hit that was flagged for targeting.

The loss sent South Carolina tumbling similarly to its Palmetto Bowl rivals. The Gamecocks went from 11th to others receiving votes. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt at No. 20 has its best ranking since 2008. The Commodores reached No. 13 that season but failed to finish ranked.

The Commodores snapped an 11-year poll drought last October, though — fun fact — upsetting Alabama didn’t vault Vandy into the rankings. It took the Commodores a couple more victories to get to No. 25, and then they lost to Texas and were out again. Vanderbilt managed to crack the Top 25 one more time at No. 24 before falling out for good.

The last time the Commodores finished a season ranked was 2014, the second consecutive season that they did it under coach James Franklin.

Looking ahead to Week 4

No. 17 Texas Tech at No. 16 Utah. The Red Raiders and Utes will play for just the third time, the first since 1973, and the first time with both members of the Big 12. Turns out it’s a big one.

No. 22 Auburn at No. 11 Oklahoma. It’s the Jackson Arnold Bowl as the Tigers quarterback returns to Oklahoma, where he started nine games last season (though he sat out a victory against Auburn).

No. 9 Illinois at No. 19 Indiana. The Big Ten rivals have played 73 times previously, but just once when both were ranked. In 1950, No. 12 Illinois beat No. 19 Indiana 20-0. The Hoosiers finished that season unranked at 3-5-1, and the Illini went 7-2 and were ranked 13th at the end of the season.

(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)

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