Notre Dame once again earned a blowout victory and the ramifications are that the Irish move up three more spots in the latest Associated Press rankings. The 36-7 win over NC State improved Notre Dame to 4-2 and gave the Irish a fourth straight win by at least 21 points. That vaulted the Irish up three spots to No. 13 in the AP rankings.
Notre Dame's climb back up the rankings has been slow but steady, and there's a chance it could take another big leap this weekend if the Irish are able to knock off USC, who jumped into the rankings at No. 20 with their convincing 31-13 win over Michigan, who fell out of the rankings after the loss. Notre Dame remains the highest ranked 2-loss team in the country.
Notre Dame lost its first two games of the to Miami and Texas A&M, who now rank No. 2 and No. 4 in the AP poll. The Irish became the first team since Michigan in 1988 to start the season 0-2 and remain in the Top 25. Of course, that season the Wolverines lost to Notre Dame and Miami, who finished the season ranked No. 1 and No. 2, with Notre Dame winning the title that season.
Notre Dame passed Oklahoma (lost to Texas), Missouri (lost to Alabama) and Michigan.
Navy is the only future Notre Dame opponent after USC to get votes in this week's AP Top 25. The Midshipmen were 5th in that group and received 11 points.
There were five new teams in this week's AP Top 25 with USC, Texas, Utah, Cincinnati and Nebraska jumping in and Michigan, Illinois, Arizona State, Iowa State and Florida State falling out.
Here are the complete AP Rankings:
1. Ohio State Buckeyes (6-0)
2. Miami Hurricanes (5-0)
3. Indiana Hoosiers (6-0)
4. Texas A&M Aggies (6-0)
5. Ole Miss Rebels (6-0)
6. Alabama Crimson Tide (5-1)
7. Texas Tech Red Raiders (6-0)
8. Oregon Ducks (5-1)
9. Georgia Bulldogs (5-1)
10. LSU Tigers (5-1)
11. Tennessee Volunteers (5-1)
12. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (6-0)
13. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4-2)
14. Oklahoma Sooners (5-1)
15. BYU Cougars (6-0)
16. Missouri Tigers (5-1)
17. Vanderbilt Commodores (5-1)
18. Virginia Cavaliers (5-1)
19. South Florida Bulls (5-1)
20. USC Trojans (5-1)
21. Texas Longhorns (4-2)
22. Memphis Tigers (6-0)
23. Utah Utes (5-1)
24. Cincinnati Bearcats (5-1)
25. Nebraska Cornhuskers (5-1)
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