Fighting Irish Now Ranked #7

For whatever reason I was nervous heading into the Miami game. I am that way whenever tradition is messed with. I was skeptical of the special uniforms and helmets. However, I can honestly say that those uniforms looked sharp.

The team also looked sharp in a 41-7 blowout of Miami. When the new AP poll came out on Sunday, Notre Dame found itself in a place it hasn't been in a long time. That is #7. Not only are they #7, but they are ranked higher than everyone on their schedule. That includes both past and future opponents. When is the last time we could say that?

While that is exciting, it is also uncomfortable in many ways. The fact is that they haven't done anything yet. Not only that, but their next game is against possibly their toughest opponent in Stanford. That won't be easy.

Like I said before, the worst thing they can do is start believing the hype and National Title talk. They are no where near there. To be eligible for the title game, they need to be BCS eligible first. To be BCS eligible, they need to be bowl eligible first. Notre Dame still needs one more win to even be bowl eligible. That is the first step and the only way to do it is one game at a time.

If they do that and keep winning, all that other stuff will take care of itself. Florida did leapfrog the Fighting Irish, and they deserve it after knocking off LSU. However, that is not a concern because with two other SEC teams in Alabama and South Carolina ahead of them. They will all play each other and somebody has to lose.

Big 12 teams Kansas State and West Virginia will have to play each other also. All that leaves is #2 Oregon who will play common Notre Dame opponents in USC and Stanford. The point is that as long as the Fighting  Irish  keep winning, they will keep climbing.

But again, take it one week at a time.

Go Irish!