Notre Dame Football Rankings: How Can the Irish Crack the Top 10 Again?

Notre Dame is pushing to re-enter the top 10 rankings. Here's what the Irish need to improve and the key matchups ahead that could boost their standing.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman high-fives Notre Dame Fighting Irish wide receiver Kris Mitchell (10) Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, during the NCAA football game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind. / Alex Martin/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Since its loss to Northern Illinois in Week 2 of the college football season, Notre Dame has hung around the 11-20 area in the AP Top 25 rankings, but has not been able to make its way back into the Top 25.

Looking back, if the Irish were able to handle business at home against a MAC opponent as a 27.5-point favorite, it would likely be the No.2/3 team in the country right now. I digress.

That loss to NIU still looms large, however Notre Dame has been able to rebound and notch a few impressive wins including defeating Louisville at home and smashed Stanford this past week. Not to mention its win over Texas A&M, which looks better and better every week as the Aggies continue to win.

Looking ahead at Notre Dame's slate for the last six games, it is not as easy as it initially appeared.

Traditionally, scheduling two service academies (Army, Navy) would be a bad look and considered weak parts of the schedule, but both are now ranked. A&M and Louisville were ranked when Notre Dame took them down.

The schedule continues to look better for the Irish as the season goes on and it just needs to keep on winning. As it stands, no matter what the talking heads say, Notre Dame does indeed control its own destiny. There is no path where an 11-1 Irish squad misses the playoff, and in fact, an 11-1 team more than likely hosts a playoff game at Notre Dame Stadium.

Just win, baby.

BREAKING: Week 8 College Football AP Poll🚨https://t.co/xxsODR9o1l pic.twitter.com/DPSGQr3sQC

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Looking at the above current AP Poll Top 25 as of 10/13, there is a reasonable path for Notre Dame to even get near the top 5-7 if things work out in favor of Notre Dame.

Tennessee still has matchups with Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky and the up-and-coming Vanderbilt Commodores.

LSU still faces Texas A&M, Alabama and Oklahoma.

Alabama has Tennessee, Missouri, LSU, Oklahoma, Auburn.

Ohio State still has Penn State, Indiana and Michigan remaining.

Penn State squares off with Ohio State and Washington.

Oregon has Illinois and Michigan.

Lastly, Texas has Texas A&M and Georgia.

As you can see, there are a ton of massive ranked matchups still remaining in the Top 25 and even the Top 10 teams as we continue through the college football season. That is GREAT news for Notre Dame fans, as long as the Irish continue to handle business.

If Notre Dame can just continue to win and finish 11-1, fans can sit back on Saturdays (after the ND game) and pray for absolute chaos.

Fun times!