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Notre Dame is currently No. 21 in each of the two major college football polls.
In this author's opinion, there should be no polls until October -- or maybe November.
Here's why -- the early games just don't really show us who teams are.
Let's take Notre Dame, for example. The Fighting Irish are probably not as bad as their poll position indicates. But they still did start 0-2. Yes, both those losses came by a combined four points to two top-10 teams, but Notre Dame still didn't win either of its first two contests.
On the other hand, the Irish's two wins have been blowouts against lesser competition.
So that led to questions -- is Notre Dame a good team that just struggled early against quality opponents? A good team that was just one or two plays away from beating high-level competition? Or are the Irish not as good as advertised because Miami (FL) controlled the game before Notre Dame came back, and because the Irish couldn't hold Texas A&M out of the end zone in the final two minutes at home?
Similarly, is Notre Dame good because it whooped two bad opponents, or were the Irish beating up on bad teams, and their own skill level looked higher than it is?
The truth is, it's too hard to tell this early. Notre Dame played two teams that, as of now, are among the best in the country, and then played two teams that probably won't even sniff a lower-tier bowl game. And the Irish had a week off in there.
Personally, I think Notre Dame is still good enough to be a playoff team, if it fixes some defensive issues, but even I am uncertain. I can't tell if the Irish are as bad as they looked at times in the first two games or as good as they looked in the last two. The truth is probably in the middle -- this is probably a team that should be between No. 10 and No. 15 -- but it's not even October yet. There is much to learn.
Football is a week-to-week sport, and we're already worrying about the playoffs based on polls. Yet we don't know who some of these teams really are (Alabama is another example). Not only that, but some ranked teams are playing other ranked teams, both in conference and out. Those outcomes can skew perceptions.
And injuries -- can we properly judge teams that have run into that issue?
There's a reason the initial playoff projections don't come out til later. Let's do that with polls, too.
Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.
Follow Tim on X:@tehealey
This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Opinion: The major college football polls should wait to open
Continue reading...
In this author's opinion, there should be no polls until October -- or maybe November.
Here's why -- the early games just don't really show us who teams are.
Let's take Notre Dame, for example. The Fighting Irish are probably not as bad as their poll position indicates. But they still did start 0-2. Yes, both those losses came by a combined four points to two top-10 teams, but Notre Dame still didn't win either of its first two contests.
On the other hand, the Irish's two wins have been blowouts against lesser competition.
So that led to questions -- is Notre Dame a good team that just struggled early against quality opponents? A good team that was just one or two plays away from beating high-level competition? Or are the Irish not as good as advertised because Miami (FL) controlled the game before Notre Dame came back, and because the Irish couldn't hold Texas A&M out of the end zone in the final two minutes at home?
Similarly, is Notre Dame good because it whooped two bad opponents, or were the Irish beating up on bad teams, and their own skill level looked higher than it is?
The truth is, it's too hard to tell this early. Notre Dame played two teams that, as of now, are among the best in the country, and then played two teams that probably won't even sniff a lower-tier bowl game. And the Irish had a week off in there.
Personally, I think Notre Dame is still good enough to be a playoff team, if it fixes some defensive issues, but even I am uncertain. I can't tell if the Irish are as bad as they looked at times in the first two games or as good as they looked in the last two. The truth is probably in the middle -- this is probably a team that should be between No. 10 and No. 15 -- but it's not even October yet. There is much to learn.
Football is a week-to-week sport, and we're already worrying about the playoffs based on polls. Yet we don't know who some of these teams really are (Alabama is another example). Not only that, but some ranked teams are playing other ranked teams, both in conference and out. Those outcomes can skew perceptions.
And injuries -- can we properly judge teams that have run into that issue?
There's a reason the initial playoff projections don't come out til later. Let's do that with polls, too.
in the AP Poll
#GoIrish
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) September 28, 2025
Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.
Follow Tim on X:@tehealey
This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Opinion: The major college football polls should wait to open
Continue reading...
