Sep 27, 2025; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman leads the team in celebration after the game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Notre Dame won 56-13. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Notre Dame Among the Elite According to the Four Game Stats

Originally posted on Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI
By Jeff Feyerer | Last updated Oct 2, 2025 3:05 PM ET

Through four games of the Notre Dame season, it feels very much like the Irish are a good, not yet great, football team.

Yes, they are only 2-2, but I think anyone who has watched can agree that the competition has been stiff and they have been largely impressive as they work out some kinks with a first-time quarterback, new defensive coordinator, and their continual search for leadership on that side of the ball.

Notre Dame, Statistically, Is Just Fine

Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

And as the season progresses, more data points becoming available means more ways to measure if Marcus Freeman's squad is really as good as they appear at times.

As we sit here today, one of these measurement systems has Notre Dame as the third best team in the country.

Sports Reference, and specifically its College Football site, has a measurement known as the Simple Rating System. Explained very simply, it's the margin of victory adjusted for the strength of schedule. It is my favorite way when I'm looking for analysis on how good a team is for both the NFL and College, even before I saw how they are currently rating the Irish.

The Irish currently have a +24.11 rating, which ,to provide some context, is about 2.5 points higher than they were at the end of last year. They finished 2nd in SRS at the completion of last year's playoffs.

Notre Dame being third is not that big of a surprise when you really think about it. They've destroyed two of the weaker Power 5 opponents and lost heartbreakers to really good teams.

Currently, the Irish playoff hopes hinge on A) whether or not they can win out B) whether enough other teams across the nation lose enough games to push the Irish up the rankings and C) whether the Irish schedule will be strong enough to convince people they should be included.

The most interesting thing to me when looking at the latest SRS rankings wasn't where the Irish sit. It is the two teams currently ranked above them.

1. Texas A&M = 25.49
2. Miami = 24.39
3. Notre Dame = 24.11

Yes, the Irish need to run roughshod over the remainder of their schedule while simultaneously praying a few of their future opponents (looking at you USC, Navy, Pitt) can continue winning enough to make potential wins look better.

But at the same time, we should also be pulling hard for Texas A&M and Miami. As difficult as that may seem, at the very least, it would be nice knowing that in some corners of this universe, Notre Dame lost to the two best teams in the country.

This article first appeared on Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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