Notre Dame is, officially, the No. 1 team in the country.
According to almost everyone.
The Irish were a unanimous pick for No. 1 in the new Associated Press poll released Sunday. And while they also landed at No. 1 in the USA Today coaches poll, they earned 56 of 59 first-place votes in doing so.
It's the first time Notre Dame (11-0) is the AP No. 1 since November 14, 1993.
"Now we don't have to answer the question about style ponts or politics or anything like that," Irish coach Brian Kelly said during his Sunday teleconference. "We get a chance to play for the national championship if we win this week."
Alabama received two votes and Georgia received one in the coaches' balloting, which is one of two human polls (the Harris poll is the other) that is part of the Bowl Championship Series formula. Notre Dame went 60-for-60 on the AP ballots, for the record.
Still, despite a trickle of holdouts, there should be no issue with Notre Dame landing at No. 1 in the BCS standings released later Sunday and therefore putting themselves just one win at USC away from a berth in the national title game.
"It's like being selected for the playoffs," Kelly said. "Now you know you're in if you take care of business.
"It's interesting -- I was down in the training room when the guys were popping in today. They all to a man know that it doesn't mean much if you're No. 1 for just three to four days. They understand the importance of the USC game. I was happy to see they have that kind of mentality, they know it’s all about how we play against USC."
None of this was even possible until cataclysm struck Oregon and Kansas State late Saturday, with the Ducks losing in overtime to Stanford and the Wildcats getting thrashed at Baylor. Kelly was watching those games unfold with a dozen or so guests in his home's theater room, guests who were "cheering quite loudly" as he put it.
As for whether he was cheering as well?
"Heck, yeah," Kelly said.
Alabama and Georgia run No. 2 and No. 3 in both polls released Sunday and also are expected to fill those slots in the BCS standings. Thus an Irish win at USC likely pits them against the winner of the presumed Crimson Tide-Bulldogs matchup in the SEC championship game.
Meanwhile, the last time Notre Dame and Alabama were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the AP poll? The year of 1967.
"We've got to hit the pause button and realize we're not doing this to be No. 1 for three to four days," Kelly said. "We're doing this because we want a consistent program that's in the hunt every year."
bchamilton@tribune.com
Twitter @ChiTribHamilton
Notre Dame No. 1 in polls
This article
Notre Dame No. 1 in polls
can be opened in url
http://sneerednews.blogspot.com/2012/11/notre-dame-no-1-in-polls.html
Notre Dame No. 1 in polls
