Two straight wins over ranked opponents were enough to vault Notre Dame to No. 5 in the latest Coaches’ Poll, up two spots after throttling then-No. 24 Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.
That loss dropped the Hokies out of the rankings, along with No. 19 Michigan State and No. 24 Boise State. They were replaced by No. 22 Texas A&M, a 20-14 overtime winner over No. 20 Kentucky and a pair of unbeaten AAC teams -- No. 23 South Florida and No. 25 Cincinnati. The ranking represents a landmark accomplishment for Luke Fickell, who was 4-8 in his first season at the helm.
And in another example of why this poll is garbage and should be abolished post haste: Oklahoma remained three spots ahead of Texas despite losing on a neutral field and having an objectively inferior resume compared to their southern rivals.
The full poll:
1. Alabama -- 1,597 total points (61 first-place votes)
2. Georgia -- 1,496
3. Ohio State -- 1,476 (1)
4. Clemson -- 1,433 (2)
5. Notre Dame -- 1,348
6. West Virginia -- 1,249
7. Washington -- 1,148
8. Penn State -- 1,136
9. UCF -- 932
10. Wisconsin -- 916
11. Oklahoma -- 903
12. LSU -- 858
13. Michigan -- 846
14. Texas -- 833
15. Miami -- 657
16. Florida -- 633
17. Oregon -- 558
18. Colorado -- 513
19. NC State -- 413
20. Kentucky -- 381
21. Auburn -- 357
22. Texas A&M -- 205
23. South Florida -- 185
24. Stanford -- 156
25. Cincinnati -- 133