Back to results >>

2016 Preseason Notre Dame Fighting Irish Rankings

Main Poll Voters

User	Rank	Reason
BabyBladder	4	11-2, loss to Stanford in the regular season. Will be embarrassed by Alabama like MSU last year. 2 big national games in the first 3 weeks of their schedule, and then a nice national prime time game against USC to end that serves as their play-in. (Top 4 are playoff contenders teams, dropping them below others after is stupid).
dabul-master	4
sideoutpar	4
Plneapple	5
sunburn_on_the_brain	5	Kelly has too much talent on this team and an embarrassment of riches at QB.
keytide22	6
puffadda	6
T-Thugs	6	Offense should still be loaded. Defense may be a little shaky. Will either be top 5 or unranked after week 1 matchup with Texas. 
AGSattack	7	Can the two-quarterback system work?  I'm skeptical, but Theismann believes, so...maybe?
CockADoodleBOOM	7
djowen68	7	Talent, coaching
fitzmauricet	7
flipadelphia17	7
GoldenHawk07	7
TheFlyingBoat	7
admiraltarkin	8
alsonamedbort87	8
BallSoHerd	8
Branzilla91	8
brobroma	8
Buckeyes2010	8
CantHousewifeaHo	8
coreyfra	8
Dropbackandpunt	8
emueagles	8
HelioOne	8
icklebush	8
JCiLee	8
jlh2b	8
milesgmsu	8
monkeymatt1836	8	Notre Dame under Brian Kelly will once again have a crazy amount of talent on the field. The Irish have 2 very good QBs in DeShone Kizer and Malik Zaire, and will have one of the best RB tandems in the country with Josh Adams and Tarean Folston. However, the Irish WR corp is perhaps the most green WR corp in the country. Expect the Irish to open the season favoring the run, and gradually passing the ball later in the season as the young WRs develop. There are a lot of question marks in the Irish secondary with the dismissal of starting FS Max Redfield. Look for Brian van Gorder's defense to struggle a little bit at times. The Irish have a favorable schedule and should make a run at an NYE6 Bowl Game. If they can contend for a CFP spot remains to be seen. 
No_Way_Pablo	8
retnuh101	8
solo_22	8
swodaem2005	8
the5thpixel	8
03040905	9
BoboIsDead	9	Loaded with injury, yet plagued by playmakers, Notre Dame is... well that's backwards, but as of late, the two seem interchangeable at Notre Dame.  The team has teased the college football world with glimpses of greatness all over their roster, only to be shunted away to the medical bay before anyone could see their true potential.  Notre Dame came up just about a yard short of bringing the national title runner-up last year, a pass interference call short of beating the national title runner-up the year before, and a litany of teases in years' past.  If this team can stay healthy, they could be on a fast track to restoring past glories of the Fightin' Irish.
BosskOnASegway	9	Predictive Rank: #11 (30 points)Personal Rank: #11 (30 points)AP Rank: #10 (16 points)Total: 76/125
BrutonGaster77	9
buckeyegold	9
BugsSuck	9
CFSparta92	9
chceman	9
chweris	9
d_mcc_x	9
Emperor_of_Orange	9
flyingcrayons	9
galacticdude7	9
gbuntin	9
gohuskies	9	They're going to have an incredible offense. Run defense wasn't great last year and it doesn't look to have improved. But they can put up points with anyone.
grjohnst	9
groggydog	9
Harry_B_C_Dresden	9
jeedf	9
jklharris	9
JonesUCF34	9
KingKliffsbury	9
meatfrappe	9
mjurkiewicz	9
MrDoctorSmartyPants	9
MrTheSpork	9
myghtymouse	9
OhGad	9
pmartin0079	9
Polarbear1914	9
rabid_communicator	9
sirgippy	9
swanky-k	9
ToxicSteve13	9
vanburen1845	9
Wurst_Law	9
AaronRodgers16	10
AllHawkeyesGoToHell	10
antiherowes	10
bluegrassborn	10
bties	10
CambodianDrywall	10
cfbguy	10
dupreesdiamond	10
FellKnight	10
Fifth_Down	10
GeneralGBO	10
Hummer77x	10
kamikazeguy	10	After taking large hits from the injury bug last year, Notre Dame should be able to finish the regular with a maximum of 2-3 losses if they can replace the void left behind by Jaylon Smith.
laminak	10
LEGEN--wait_for_it	10
longhorn2015	10
mellolizard	10
Mythic514	10
NatecUDF	10
njm1314	10
polydorr	10
Pope_Jake	10
qacha	10
RobertNeyland	10
seaotter2	10
snwidget	10
ssnider23	10	It was really hard for me to put them at number 10, especially after dismissing the senior safety due to his arrest. While the Irish lost two of my favorite players (Day and Fuller), they returned most of their offense and both QBs. Their defense will be a huge question mark, so it will be up to the underclassmen to step up.
Stockz	10
tmart12	10
ToLongDR	10
ucieaters33	10
UNC_Samurai	10
Wescat	10
XSavageWalrusX	10
Xtremeloco	10	Notre Dame gets to be #10 because NBC paid me.  
Austinperroux	11
captain_sasquatch	11
Cheeseish	11
cmdrcaboose2	11
CountryRoads8	11
DavoinShower-handle	11
deadtofall12	11
HUSKEROYAL	11
mickeyquicknumbers	11	This feels like the correct holding place for a Notre Dame team that has at least one very good QB, one very good RB, and not a lot else known on offense. All three of the defensive position groups have moderate turnover to overcome; but collectively I think the high-quality recruiting and the quality rotational players stepping up can fill the gaps here. 
mynameisjona	11
nin478	11
RiffRamBahZoo	11
scronko	11
Texasagsman	11
thatwasntveryraven	11
topher3003	11
TopheryG8er	11
52hoova	12
ack30297	12
aubieismyhomie	12
DoctorWhosOnFirst	12
f0gax	12
funtubs	12
G-Aardvark	12
G-manP	12	Brian Kelly will be playing the role of 2015 Urban Meyer this year as he tries to decide which of his two talented QBs will be 'the guy'. The Irish have certainly lost some talent on both sides of the ball this past year. However, the Golden Domers will do what they always do and compete on a high level.
hokies220	12	Notre Dame's biggest weakness last year was injuries. Yet they still managed to play Clemson down to the wire as well as Stanford. But they also nearly lost to Virginia and got handled fairly easily by Ohio State. This year the schedule appears tougher and another up and down play style could bode ill for the Irish. They don't return a lot of starters, but Notre Dame reloads pretty well. I think #12 is ok for right now.
kflinderman	12
MammothMan34	12
monotonemr	12
NeauxRegrets	12
nickknx865	12
owl_man	12
TDenverFan	12
THECrew42	12
A-Stu-Ute	13
Acm0028	13
Atoodope	13
BaldEagle88	13
buckeyes75	13
Disregardskarma	13
jayhawx19	13
kdcoltred	13
kelling928	13
mgmfa	13	It's all about potential here. I've consistently put teams that showed me last year over teams that didn't, but there's too much talent here to drop them too much further.
niperwiper	13
Pikachu1989	13
plannedsickdays	13
remwin	13
SCRx	13
seanosaur	13
SenorPuff	13
WaffleIron278	13
BUSean	14
esoterik	14
GiveMeSomeRaptorNews	14
ilovecfb	14
Mario_Speedwagon	14
SmokingCricket	14
SpeedxKills	14	Notre Dame drops slight in my polls because of offseason distractions and player suspensions/dismissals. Still one of the most talented teams in the nation (#13 in the 247sports team composite) more question marks linger than initially did finishing the 2015 season. 
TheTeamCubed	14
WarEagle9	14
corundum9	15
eclectic_tastes	15
pbjork	15
PureCFR	15
tabelz	15	Even post-Fulmer Cup glory, the Irish look solid, but not great.
Techwid	15
twosheepforanore	15
DafoeFoSho	16
diastereomer	16
jzorbino	16
Khavanon	16
KobeOrNotKobe	16
wackywiener	16
Daigotsu	17
TotalEconomist	17
atchemey	18
ExternalTangents	18
kdbvols	18	I had them higher, but then 6 players got arrested.  That's distracting and not exactly good for the depth chart.
Quentanamo_Bay	18
spsellers	18
bakonydraco	20
Luriker	22	All the way back here because a team I might have thrown around 10 decided to prioritize the Fulmer Cup.
stephenbawesome	22
uwbjb	22
Red261	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

Back to results >>