Notre Dame Rockets to Top Five in ESPN Rankings After Dominant Win Over Navy

Notre Dame's dominating win over Navy impressed the computer formula

Oct 26, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman stands with his team for their alma mater after their game against the Navy Midshipmen at MetLife Stadium. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Notre Dame went on a truly dominating run between bye weeks, routing Stanford, Georgia Tech, and Navy in succession to go 3-0 in October. After a 51-14 victory over previously unbeaten Navy on Saturday, Notre Dame finished the month outscoring opponents 131-34.

It wasn't exactly murderers row for the Fighting Irish, but the team handled business in the way it is expected to do. It covered all three games if you follow such matters and sits 7-1 as it enters the stretch run of November.

It's impressive when you put it that way but how impressive is it to the non-biased computer formulas?

ESPN Football Power Index (FPI) updated its rankings on Sunday morning and has moved Notre Dame into the nation's top five.

Notre Dame Leapfrogs Pair of SEC Teams in ESPN FPI Rankings

The new ESPN FPI rankings are out as of Sunday morning and Notre Dame has moved into the top five, passing both Tennessee and Ole Miss this week.

Below is the entire top 25.

1. Texas
2. Ohio State
3. Alabama
4. Georgia
5. Notre Dame
6. Tennessee
7. Ole Miss
8. Oregon
9. Penn State
10. Miami (FL)
11. Indiana
12. Texas A&M

13. Clemson
14. LSU
15. USC
16. SMU
17. Louisville
18. Kansas State
19. Iowa State
20. Boise State
21. South Carolina
22. Colorado
23. Florida
24. Missouri
25. Arkansas

ESPN FPI Projects Notre Dame's Remainder of Season

Oct 26, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Kedren Young (21) carries the ball after the game Navy Midshipmen safety Rayuan Lane III (18) during the second half at MetLife Stadium. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Here are Notre Dame's chances at winning each of the remaining four games according to ESPN FPI along with what those chances were a week ago, pre-Navy. As you'll see, Notre Dame's chances of making the College Football Playoff are very much alive, and went up just a tick following the blowout victory.

vs. Florida State: 95.9% (+1.0)
vs. Virginia: 95.8% (+3.0)
vs. Army: 86.8% (+2.3)
at USC: 61.0% (+2.8)

Notre Dame Season Projections from ESPN FPI:

Love thee ☘️💚#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/PoZ5IPNN2r

— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) October 26, 2024

To Win-Out This Regular Season: 49.1% (up 8.0% from Oct. 20)

Make College Football Playoff: 58.6% (up 2.5%)*

Make National Championship Game: 11.5 (up 1.6%)

Win National Championship: 6.3% (up 1.5%)*

*-Notre Dame's 58.6% chance to make the College Football Playoff are the 10th best of any team nationally according to ESPN FPI while the 6.3% chance to win the national championship are the ninth-highest of any team.

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