Preseason AP Poll Prediction: Where Will Notre Dame Be Ranked, July Version

What will the preseason College Football AP Poll be, and where should Notre Dame be in the first set of rankings? It's our July version, before the full top 25 guess in August.

Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love (4) Saturday, April 20, 2024, at the annual Notre Dame Blue-Gold spring football game at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend. / MANDATORY CREDIT GREG SWIERCZ / USA

The Preseason College Football AP Top 25 poll is still a few weeks away, but it's not too hard to guess who's at the top, in some order.

This doesn't quite matter like it used to, but it's still a big deal, and it's still a ton of fun to talk about.

The preseason AP Top 25 poll is the unoffical start to the college football season - if you don't believe that a video game is the real signal.

It's a College Football Playoff world now, and it's now all about expansion, the 12-team format, and who can get into the new system. It's still going to be the same overall deal, though.

Win your power conference and you'll get in. But that doesn't matter when it comes to the AP college football rankings.

Of course, the College Football Playoff committee types aren't supposed to acknowledge that the AP rankings - or any other measurement other than what's sanctioned and used in the process - exist or were ever created, but ...

Obviously, everyone looks to see where the AP voters put all the teams before the season starts.

The preseason AP Top 25 sets the bar, and that's why this matters for Notre Dame more than just about any other school.

All of the other power teams can win a conference championship and be fine. Notre Dame still has to appear to a panel of judges - it can't just play its way into the tournament.

- Every Preseason AP College Football Poll: Where Did Notre Dame Rank

2024 Preseason College Football AP Poll Prediction: Notre Dame

I did this exercise a few weeks ago for the Irish, and I'll do it one more time just before the real preseason AP Top 25 is released - with all 25 teams in the mix. This is the July version, and I've changed my mind a bit on the call - mostly because I just had lunch with a few friends who vote in this thing and found out how they're thinking.

And like I did for Notre Dame and the most recent guess of where it'll be in the preseason Coaches Poll, a lot of the same rationale applies.

For the most part, the AP and Coaches polls align in the preseason. Last year they both had the top 12 in some configuration, and they both had Notre Dame at 13.

This year, the Irish won't start out any lower than eight. They'll definitely be in the top ten - by the way, this is me predicting this, not actually making the call on how I'd rank everyone - but pushing the top five might be a stretch.

The AP voting pool is a lot deeper than the Coaches version, so Notre Dame will certainly be top five on several ballots.

The question will be whether or not the voters are buying into Ole Miss and a remade Alabama, or if they still think Michigan might reload quickly - remember, not everyone is into college football yet in mid-July, and that includes some poll voters.

So here's where I've changed things up a bit - FOR NOW, and this might change back in a few weeks. One of the two polls will give Michigan a lot more preseason credit than it probably deserves, just because.

What does that mean for Notre Dame? It might be a wee bit lower than others will expect, but not be a lot. Beat Texas A&M to start the season and this all changes fast.

Again, this will be done again in August with the full 25. But for now, here's the best guess on the top 10 of the preseason AP college football poll and where Notre Dame will be.

10. Penn State Nittany Lions

2023 Preseason Ranking: 7
2023 Final AP Poll Rank: 13

9. Florida State Seminoles

2023 Preseason Ranking: 8
2023 Final AP Poll Rank: T6

8. Ole Miss Rebels

2023 Preseason Ranking: 22
2023 Final AP Poll Rank: 9

7. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

2023 Preseason Ranking: 13
2023 Final AP Poll Rank: 14

6. Michigan Wolverines

2023 Preseason Ranking: 2
2023 Final AP Poll Rank: 1

5. Alabama Crimson Tide

2023 Preseason Ranking: 4
2023 Final AP Poll Rank: 5

4. Oregon Ducks

2023 Preseason Ranking: 15
2023 Final AP Poll Rank: T6

3. Texas Longhorns

2023 Preseason Ranking: 11
2023 Final AP Poll Rank: 3

2. Ohio State Buckeyes

2023 Preseason Ranking: 3
2023 Final AP Poll Rank: 10

1. Georgia Bulldogs

2023 Preseason Ranking: 1
2023 Final AP Poll Rank: 4

- 2024 Preseason College Football Coaches Poll Prediction: Where Will Notre Dame Be Ranked?