Notre Dame Football: Will the Fighting Irish Crack the AP Top 15 This Week?

Notre Dame (3-2) won its third-straight game Saturday in a 28-7 takedown of Boise State. The win may not have registered as pure domination on the scoreboard the way many of the Notre Dame faithful would have liked, but it was still a rather impressive showing for a team looking to win with style points.

The rest of the college football world then proceeded to go a bit crazy as Notre Dame was beating Boise State.

Put it all together and one can't help but wonder just how much Notre Dame will move up in Sunday's AP Poll rankings.

How Notre Dame's Direct Competition Fared

Notre Dame began the week ranked 21st nationally but should see itself move up at least a couple of spots when the AP Poll is released on Sunday.

Directly ahead of Notre Dame, No. 20 Michigan beat Wisconsin while No. 19 Missouri was off. No. 18 Florida State was routed by No. 3 Miami, a team Notre Dame lost to in the final seconds. No. 17 Georgia Tech was also off but No. 16 Vanderbilt was also hit with a loss at Alabama.

No. 14 Iowa State, No. 9 Texas, and No. 7 Penn State all also suffered losses this weekend.

So how far will Notre Dame go up in the polls?

Notre Dame Projection in Updated AP Poll

There is no reason Notre Dame shouldn't pass each of the five teams ahead of it that lost. Penn State has to fall the farthest in order for that to happen, but considering the Nittany Lions haven't beat an Group of Four team yet this year should remove them from the rankings for the time being.

Texas is living off its reputation, having not done a whole lot of anything impressive this fall, besides enter it with a high preseason ranking. The Longhorns only success so far this season is playing Ohio State closely in Columbus.

Iowa State couldn't stop Cincinnati on the road, and lacks a big win so far. Vanderbilt got a dose of reality in Tuscaloosa, and Florida State was rocked, losing for the second-straight week.

I expect to see Notre Dame rewarded for its relatively easy victory over Boise State, as well as for its only losses being to an outstanding Miami squad and a still unbeaten Texas A&M. Not everyone will vote the same, but expect to see Notre Dame knocking on the door of the top 15, perhaps at No. 16 when the updated poll is released on Sunday.