Preseason Top 25 Polls

[KPENN]

Alabama Crimson Tide strengthen top spot in latest 2013 Top 25 - ESPN

ND at #9

9. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Previous rank: 12
After unexpectedly leading the Fighting Irish to a 12-0 record during the regular season in 2012 and a spot in the Discover BCS National Championship, coach Brian Kelly landed the school's first top-five recruiting class since 2006. Even without All-American linebacker Manti Te'o, the Irish figure to again be stingy on defense in 2013, especially with star nose guard Louis Nix III and defensive end Stephon Tuitt coming back. Kelly added a lot of speed and athleticism in this recruiting class for his defense, including linebackers Jaylon Smith and Doug Randolph, tackle Eddie Vanderdoes and safety Max Redfield. There's also more help for the offense, including running back Greg Bryant. The Irish bring back seven starters on offense, and quarterback Everett Golson figures to be a better passer in his second season as a starter. Notre Dame's schedule in 2013 again looks daunting, with road games at Michigan and Stanford and home contests against Michigan State, Oklahoma and USC, plus a matchup against Arizona State at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

 

[Downinthebend]

Ought to be higher imo.

 

[greyhammer90]

I hate it when they rank teams low because they assume they will lose because of the schedule. It happens every year to a couple of teams. You're supposed to rank the team where they belong, not where you predict they'll end up at the end of the season. Good example is last season, where most people kept us out of the top 25 because "our schedule was just too hard". What does that have to do with it?

 

[IrishLax]

The funniest thing is that Stanford... a team we beat, had more losses, and struggled with a 6 loss big ten team in their bowl game... is a top 5 lock.

People have overreacted like crazy to the championship game blowout.

 

[IrishLax]

And Louisville lost to freaking UCONN at home and got blown out by SYRACUSE similar to what we had happen with Alabama. Ridiculous.

 

[irishff1014]

Espn is getting worse all the time.

 

[greyhammer90]

It's nice to be pissed off about being ranked 9th though.

 

[Buster Bluth]

Michigan a 12?

lol wut

 

[GreenSox04]

We climbed to #1 After being on the outside of the top 25,

Ill gladly watch us crawl up from the number 9 spot this go round.

 

[greyhammer90]

Michigan a 12?

lol wut

Good... good...

 

[Irish Houstonian]

It's also a bit nonsensical to factor-in teams' 2013 recruiting classes...Most of those kids won't play this year.

 

[Chris P. Bacon]

The funniest thing is that Stanford... a team we beat, had more losses, and struggled with a 6 loss big ten team in their bowl game... is a top 5 lock.

People have overreacted like crazy to the championship game blowout.

That's because we didn't beat Stanford, they got in on that 4th down conv which won the game for them, duh.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

We climbed to #1 After being on the outside of the top 25,

Ill gladly watch us crawl up from the number 9 spot this go round.

We'll start the season as a top-10 team, which means we'll easily make a BCS bowl as long as we get to 10-wins.

It's also a bit nonsensical to factor-in teams' 2013 recruiting classes...Most of those kids won't play this year.

Pre-season ranking is an exercise in absurdity anyway.

 

[Grahambo]

I think #9 seems legit to start the season.

 

[yankeeND]

Don't really care where we start but I must admit its nice to be viewed as a top 10 team and actually deserve it!

 

[ACamp1900]

Does Bama play UGA, Florida of South Carolina in the reg. season this year???

Seriously do they EVER play them?? I swear it's like I rememebr them playing Florida once and South Carolina once in the past three seasons... how do you do that?? 9 potential conference games in three years and you only get two of them??

I bet they don't play them again this season too...

 

[cyrano]

I think Notre Dame suffers in such rankings due to always being under the microscope of the media. It's going to get worse before it gets better. I believe this year will be especially bad. We'll garner even more critical attention, but if we prove the doubters wrong again and have another stellar season we'll start to get the benefit of the doubt.

 

[ickythump1225]

Yeah that's too low for us but eh who cares, it is only February after all. It's humorous that Stanford is such a solid lock for the top 5, and they have them #2 here! Crazy stuff. Short attention span America though, no one remembers 12-0, all they remember is 42-14. Oh well as long as we're preseason top 10 I'm fine because we won't have so long to climb to get control of our destiny.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

I bet they don't play them again this season too...

Nope. They play Tennessee (at home) and Kentucky (away) from the SEC East this season.

They run such a gauntlet each year.

 

[vuirish]

We climbed to #1 After being on the outside of the top 25,

Ill gladly watch us crawl up from the number 9 spot this go round.

Agreed. I actually liked being totally inderrated last year.

 

[tadman95]

If Alabama gets by aTm, they can stay hame and wait for the BCSNCG invite.

 

[greyhammer90]

To be fair to Bama, one of their East slots is always taken by Tennessee. Long-term rival. The fact that Tennessee sucks right now isn't their fault.

 

[Old Man Mike]

I'm happy with this. 9's a good spot --- a predator's spot. Stanford at #2 could even be looked upon as our ticket to the NC if we roll along. Looking good to me. Gotta beat Michigan early again, if so we'll be alright.

 

[BGIF]

It's nice to be pissed off about being ranked 9th though.

^

 

[woolybug25]

I'm happy with this. 9's a good spot --- a predator's spot. Stanford at #2 could even be looked upon as our ticket to the NC if we roll along. Looking good to me. Gotta beat Michigan early again, if so we'll be alright.

/thread

 

[alohagoirish]

I have no problems with it--a top ten ranking & 3 of our first seven games against Oklahoma/Michigan/USC--its a front loaded schedule and starting in the top ten leaves the TEAM in control of where they go in the polls.

 

[JughedJones]

Wait.... Stanford is seriously #2?

They lost all their offensive play makers and they...


Alrighty then.

 

[GowerND11]

Bama has, as of now, 2 games next year in aTm and LSU. Maybe Va Tech? But seriously, their schedule is a joke...

 

[Bishop2b5]

Does Bama play UGA, Florida of South Carolina in the reg. season this year???

Seriously do they EVER play them?? I swear it's like I rememebr them playing Florida once and South Carolina once in the past three seasons... how do you do that?? 9 potential conference games in three years and you only get two of them??

I bet they don't play them again this season too...

We play 1 team from the other division every year as a permanent rival and 2 teams on a rotating basis. We played UGA, UF and SC a few years ago, but all three have rotated off and won't come back for another year or two. There are some years there's no way to play any of them and still have a 2-year series with all the other SEC-E teams.

 

[ACamp1900]

Must be nice being able to substitute most of your real conference competition with multiple sub-division teams... all while still getting credit for this 'killer' schedule...