What Does USA Today Preseason Coaches Poll Mean for Notre Dame?

Notre Dame very much seen as a College Football Playoff contender

Notre Dame Head Coach Marcus Freeman speaks to Kahanu Kia (43) and Devan Houstan (98) 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 TODAY NETWORK

The USA Today Sports Coaches Poll is out for the college football preseason and as expected, Notre Dame cracks the top 10.

The poll was released late Monday morning with most of the usual suspects in the top 10.

It goes as follows below:

Rank	Team	Points
1	Gerogia (46)	1364
2	Ohio State (7)	1302
3	Oregon	1228
4	Texas	1223
5	Alabama	1077
6	Ole Miss	1019
7	Notre Dame	969
8	Michigan	944
9	Penn State	889
10	Florida State	867
11	Missouri	808
12	LSU	742
13	Utah	665
14	Clemson	657
15	Tennessee	621
16	Oklahoma	609
17	Kansas State	416
18	Oklahoma State	359
19	Miami (FL)	292
20	Texas A&M	273
21	Arizona	230
22	North Carolina State	216
23	USC	199
24	Kansas	186
25	Iowa	148

Also receiving votes: Washington 123; Louisville 95; Virginia Tech 64; SMU 47; Memphis 44; Boise State 30; Auburn 25; West Virginia 22; Wisconsin 17; Liberty 15; Iowa State 15; Kentucky 12; Florida 11; South Carolina 10; North Carolina 6; UNLV 5; Maryland 5; UCF 4; Texas Tech 4; UTSA 3; Tulane 2; Texas State 2; Nebraska 2; Colorado 2; Appalachian State 2; Troy 1; Syracuse 1; Miami (OH) 1; James Madison 1; Air Force 1;

What Does Preseason Ranking Mean for Notre Dame?

At the end of the day preseason rankings don't matter at all for Notre Dame in terms of the College Football Playoff seeding or chances of winning a national championship.

Where preseason rankings do matter for Notre Dame are in expectations.

Being ranked seventh in the USA Today Sports Coaches Poll tells you that the national expectation for Notre Dame this year is significant. Being at number seven, that tells you the vast majority of the nation's football coaches (or several sports information directors, if we're being honest) think Notre Dame should be a really good team this season.

Where Notre Dame's 2024 Opponents Rank

Notre Dame checking in at No. 7 is the highest of any of itself and any of the 12 teams it will play in 2024. Others who made the top 25 include:

No. 10 Florida State
No. 20 Texas A&M
No. 23 USC

Louisville and Miami (Ohio) showed up in the receiving votes category.

Do these really matter a whole lot?

No, not exactly but it gives further context to the idea that Notre Dame has what should be an incredibly favorable schedule and only furthers the feeling that anything short of a College Football Playoff appearance is going to feel like a huge let down.

—Enjoy free coverage of the Irish from Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI —

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