Sports Illustrated Ranks Irish No. 48… AP, No. 35

If you take a look at this page, you’ll see that Notre Dame is ranked No. 48 in the latest college football power rankings, according to Sports Illustrated.com. There’s no real explanation here, although with the teams after No. 25, they sparingly comment on why they placed them where they did. The AP doesn’t give any written explanation for any of their rankings, but according to their latest poll, the Fighting Irish were ranked No. 35 out of the vote getters. When you’re out of the Top 25 in the AP poll, you’re considered unranked, remember.

So why the discrepancy? Notre Dame is 4-1 with wins over a few bad teams, and one or two decent teams. While the record is fine and dandy, some polls must take strength of schedule a bit more seriously. The Irish play the North Carolina Tar Heels next week, which will mean they’re playing a ranked team (No. 22). A win would go a very long way to proving the legitimacy of Notre Dame, and perhaps even giving them a ranking very soon.

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