Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman during the Notre Dame Blue-Gold spring football game at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, April 12, 2025, in South Bend. MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Notre Dame’s Coaches Poll Ranking: Did They Get It Right?

Originally posted on Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI
By John Kennedy | Last updated Aug 7, 2025 11:06 PM ET

Just how close is the start of college football?

Close enough to have the preseason coaches poll out, and Notre Dame ranks fifth in the initial rankings.

Is it too high? Is it too low? And honestly, in the College Football Playoff era, do preseason rankings even matter? We take a look at that in the wake of the preseason coaches poll release.

Notre Dame lands in fair position to start 2025

After a very successful 2024 campaign combined with a very talented roster overall to start 2025, the Irish land at number five in the preseason coach's poll. This ranking seems to be very fair all things considered, and places Notre Dame behind only Texas, Ohio State, Penn State, and Georgia.

As things stand now, Notre Dame has three ranked opponents on the 2025 schedule in Miami, Texas A&M, and Boise State, all games that will take place early in the season. While the preseason rankings always make for big news upon being released, these rankings are much more about perception than practicalities.

These rankings will change in week 1

Preseason rankings are a great barometer used to measure how teams are perceived, but practically, these rankings hold almost no weight. Why? They will change drastically after just one week of play. Notre Dame and Miami square off in week one. As do Clemson and LSU. The same can be said for Texas and Ohio State.

The part the poll plays is setting the tone for how conferences are perceived more than individual teams. For example, we can learn that a team from the SEC is overrated if it starts the year in the top 10, and loses three games by mid-October, but the poll would also suggest the conference teams that beat it were then top 10 caliber instead.

There are all heavyweight battles between preseason top ten teams, and half the teams will win while the other half will lose, completely reshuffling the rankings after just one game for each squad. For the next few weeks, perception matters. Once the ball is kicked off in week one, reality, not preconceived notions, will dictate the rankings.

As annoying and frustrating as preseason polls can be, even when Notre Dame checks in at a fair number, the best news they bring is that college football is set to kick off in just a matter of weeks.

For more Irish news & notes, follow John on Twitter @alwaysirishINC, Always Irish on Youtube and on your preferred audio podcast provider.

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

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