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Notre Dame Football

Notre Dame #5 In ESPN's Way-Too-Early Top 25

January 8, 2019
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The 2018 college football season came to an official end last night as Clemson took Alabama to the woodshed to win its second title in three years. 

So with that said, ESPN has released its first preseason 2019 Top 25 and the Irish are in a good spot to make another playoff push. 

The 2019 Way-Too-Early Top 25

1. Clemson
2. Alabama
3. Georgia
4. Ohio State
5. Notre Dame
6. Oklahoma
7. Florida
8. Texas
9. Texas A&M
10. LSU 
11. Michigan
12. Oregon
13. Washington State
14. UCF
15. Syracuse 
16. Washington
17. Penn State
18. Utah
19. Northwestern
20. Iowa State
21. Wisconsin
22. Missouri
23. Auburn
24. Nebraska
25. Army 

Notre Dame being a top five programs speaks volumes to the respect the Irish have earned over the last two seasons since the 4-8 record in 2016. 

In the last two seasons, Notre Dame has done 22-4 (.846), which is the fourth-best record among Power Five programs, but the Irish are have done more than win 22 games.

Final AP Top 25 Wins - 7 (T-4th)
AP Top 25 Wins - 7 (T-4th)
FBS Wins - 22 (5th) 
Power Five Wins - 17 (5th) 

Now, there is work to still be done for Brian Kelly and Notre Dame to reach the ultimate goal but the Irish will have a chance to cement the program back into one of the elite programs in college football in 2019. 

Notre Dame will travel to Georgia (3) in week three and Michigan (7) in week eight. If you combine those two games with Stanford, USC and Virginia Tech, it’s a great opportunity for Kelly to show the strength of the program. 

As a college football fan, you have to love seeing the Top 10 as the blue bloods of college football are back for the most part. Maybe replace Texas A&M with Michigan at nine and it’d look a touch better, but it’s an exciting time for college football in general with Florida and Texas on the rise combined with Notre Dame’s success. 

 
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