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2018 Preseason Notre Dame Fighting Irish Rankings

Main Poll Voters

User	Rank	Reason
moistats_	3
52hoova	5	Really good team last year, and they are returning a lot this year. They have a pretty damn brutal schedule though, so their win total at the end of the season may not accurately reflect how good they are. 
nickknx865	5	2029
DeceptiveSpeed	7
halldaylong	7
stripes361	7	Composite: 43.1
cmdrcaboose2	8
Fmeson	8
Mario_Speedwagon	8
noahthearc	8
Red261	8
retnuh101	8
T-Thugs	8	The Irish are coming off a 10 win season with some impressive wins (and a terrible loss to Miami). If they can get solid QB play, they could be really good.
tallg8tor	8
The-Gothic-Castle	8
thegreendalegelf	8
typicaliconoclast	8
woakley	8	Notre Dame returns many of the major players for a team that hung tough in a number of big time games last year. Lost a lot of offensive talent on the line and at WR/TE, but another year of experience for the defense and a returning QB make them strong contenders. 
BobDeLaSponge	9
DarkLegend64	9
e8odie	9
GenialGiant	9	Notre Dame went 10-3 in 2017, with their worst loss coming against a hot Miami team; they look positioned to make another good run in 2018.
Greflingorax	9
hascogrande	9
JaxofAllTrades13	9
jnoobs13	9
justsaynotoreddit	9	0.876
kelling928	9
Rakarei	9
RobertNeyland	9
taloncarde	9
TheJeemTeam	9
tmart12	9
vanburen1845	9
WarEagle9	9
was_saying_boo_urns	9
03040905	10
A-Stu-Ute	10
buttforaface	10
bwburke94	10
Cassiyus	10
cfbguy	10
Ghost_of_Dude	10
Hackasizlak	10
HelioOne	10
icklebush	10
JeromesNiece	10	Brian Kelly is due for a big season, and I could see it happening with this schedule. I think they will beat Michigan to open the year and spend most of the season in the top 10.
polydorr	10
seaotter2	10
tdeff19	10
TheZachster	10
wesman212	10
xelphin	10	Notre Dame has one hell of a schedule this year, and if they can show up the way they did against LSU in bowl season, they are going to be a team to watch. 
Xtremeloco	10
Alwaysahawk	11
BamaPride95	11
Bill3ffinMurray	11
BorisNumber1	11
boxman151515	11	People like to talk about Alabama, Clemson, Michigan and other schools having the best defense in the country, but it might end up being Notre Dame's. They return everyone from a killer defense last year. They'll be in every game because of that. If they can avoid injuries on offense, they'll be extremely dangerous.
brobroma	11
Brostradamus_	11
captain_sasquatch	11
CockADoodleBOOM	11
DanNeverDie	11
djmoody90	11
doormatt26	11
G-Aardvark	11
GilBrandt	11
GoBlueScrewOSU7	11
monkeymatt1836	11
olmsted	11
Papalew32	11
puffadda	11
sirgippy	11	Tier 3 - Possible Contender
studio_sally	11
TheTeamCubed	11
TotalEconomist	11
ucieaters33	11
WeenisWrinkle	11
3RDnKING	12
alextoyalex	12
alsonamedbort87	12
Blooblod	12	The Irish return a ton on defense this year. Look for senior DT Crooked Jerry Tillery to lead the d-line garner some attention from draft scouts. At LB, Drue Tranquill is now fully transitioned from safety/rover and will start alongside Te'Von Coney. The secondary is led by Julian Love, but all of the other starters and even a few of the backups are reliable. The defense might not pop on screen like Clemson or Alabama, but it doesn't have an apparent weak spot. The offense, on the other hand, does have a weakness. The passing game, or rather the lack of one, could dictate how ND's season goes. Even with the losses of Mike McGlinchey and Quenton Nelson this o-line should still steamroll most opponents and clear room for runners, but if Wimbush hasn't learned to throw a football to another human it could be a rough season for this offense. My Fighting Irish record prediction: 9-3. I think Michigan gets revenge for being shutout the last time this rivalry was played. Despite how good this defense might be, look for Bryce Love and Malcolm Perry to run wild and give Notre Dame their other two losses. The good news is that the Irish get the win against archrival USC to close the season. 
BosskOnASegway	12
CambodianDrywall	12
ChickenTaco	12
confirmd_am_engineer	12
dan4223	12
Extra_Excrement	12	Notre Dame's defense will be solid. I also expect Wimbush to play consistently better than last season. Similarly to Michigan, ND has a rough schedule. Michigan, Stanford, @VT, @USC, and their easier games are still against teams like FSU, Navy, and Northwestern.
FellKnight	12
Feral_Squirrel	12
Fifth_Down	12
flipadelphia17	12
galacticdude7	12
Helifino	12
Hey_Its_Roomie	12
mellolizard	12	Don't make me regret this ND. 
mynameisjona	12
RiffRamBahZoo	12
runujhkj	12
sasmith2015	12
SometimesY	12
ToLongDR	12
VerySeriousBanana	12
W_Is_For_Will	12
ya111101	12
cajunaggie08	13
Daigotsu	13
deadtofall12	13
eclectic_tastes	13
Harmbert_	13
Johnnycockseed	13
kdcoltred	13
KingKliffsbury	13
Miami_da_U	13
mjacksongt	13
Our-Gardian-Angel	13
ryker888	13
scronko	13
teddythe3rd	13
TriStarBear	13
BlueSCar	14
CertifiedSheep	14
CFSparta92	14
coreyfra	14
G-manP	14
goblue10	14	Is Brandon Wimbush E V E N A V E R A G E? That will determine the season.
Hobbes_121	14
HUSKEROYAL	14	Noter Dame has plenty of talent on their team to be great this season. Their schedule is difficult, but if Wimbush can become a decent passer, this team could be interesting come November.
Knightro2011	14
lebaronslebaron	14
mickeyquicknumbers	14	I have some trepidation about Notre Dame's offense this year pushing me down on them compared to most. The loss of Josh Adams (the heart and soul of this offense), their best WR, and 2 of the 5 best offensive lineman in the nation (Nelson & McGlinchey) makes me think Notre Dame will have a non-negligible drop from the 24th ranked offense of 2018. The defense will be carrying the team this year, ranked 27th last year and returning just about every major playmaker as well as a tremendous amount of depth. With that said, the ND defensive turnaround was largely a product of savant Mike Elko's development, and he's gone to TAMU now. I think they'll end up stout-but-not-elite defense and inconsistent offense netting right around 14th nationally.
ndhuskerpower	14
PHubbs	14	Every year it's a toss up with Notre Dame that you never know just how they'll fare despite who they recruited and how much they return. They come into this season off of an incredible 2017 campaign with most returning production on defense in all of FBS and near the bottom amount returning on the offensive side of the ball. With their top RB gone, they'll need the replacements to be good since they ranked 110th in passing efficiency last season. The passing attack obviously has no where to go but up and I expect them to improve there slightly while holding things tight on defense and keeping the running game going. I don't think these Irish have the potential to move up much past this point, especially with their loaded schedule, but they will compete in almost every game and should finish with 9 wins by the time the season's over.
SCsprinter13	14
TanzaniaMagic	14
ThaCarter	14
UNC_Samurai	14
AaronRodgers16	15
chrisb19	15	Notre Dame, like Sparty, had a disappointing 2016 and then rebounded in a big way last year after cleaning house and firing most of their assistant coaches. This year Kelly has yet another new DC but someone who was in the system last year, and his OC returning, as well as a lot of production. They should be set up for another 10-win season.
DEP61	15
Dropbackandpunt	15
g_mo821	15
jmac_21	15	ND has a tough schedule, but get's to play a few big ones at home this year.
Nathanael-Greene	15
RegulatorRWF	15
ScarletFever333	15
ShogunAshoka	15
TaylorLeprechaun	15	I wasn't high on ND last year, and this year is the same for me.  Can't argue they aren't a good team, but I don't think they are as good as other do.
Texasagsman	15
uwbjb	15
admiraltarkin	16
BallSoHerd	16
Branzilla91	16
corundum9	16
dabul-master	16
hokies220	16	Don't know what to expect from them, but Wimbush is a threat and they won 10 games last year so I'm thinking 10 wins is possible again.
Pikachu1989	16
TDenverFan	16
TheReformedBadger	16
bakonydraco	17
bgr308	17
BrutonGaster77	17
itsabearcannon	17
nemoran	17
ReallyCreative	17
SCRx	17
djowen68	18
JonesUCF34	18
relax_on_the_mat	18
T-nawtical	18
AllHawkeyesGoToHell	19
conchobor	19
dicky_________seamus	19
GeneralGBO	19
JCiLee	19
MonkeyPunch	19	10-3
SSJRoshi	19
THECrew42	19
I_am_bot_beep_boop	20
joebob431	20
plannedsickdays	21
BlueFalcon89	23
HarbingerOfFun	23
PureCFR	23

Provisional Poll Voters

User	Rank	Reason

Blue = Human
Red = Computer
Green = Hybrid

Bold = before the AP poll was published
Normal = after the AP poll was published

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