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NCAA Football Rankings, Week 8: Notre Dame Moves Up To No. 5 In AP Poll

After a stunning victory over then-No. 17 Stanford on Saturday, the unbeaten Notre Dame Fighting Irish have moved into the top 5 of the AP Top 25 poll.

By Satchel Price
Matt Cashore-US PRESSWIRE - Presswire

Coming off their third victory of the season over a ranked opponent, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have moved up to No. 5 in this week's edition of the AP Top 25 poll. With the number of unbeaten teams dwindling each week, the 6-0 Irish are emerging as one of the nation's elite teams this season.

On Saturday, Notre Dame came from behind to beat then-No. 17 Stanford in overtime 20-13, giving the team five wins in five tries against teams from BCS conferences this season. Over the past four weeks, the Irish have three wins against ranked teams (Stanford, Michigan, Michigan St.) and a 41-3 blowout victory over the Miami Hurricanes.

Now in the middle of October, AP voters have just four teams – Alabama, Oregon, Florida and Kansas State – ahead of the Fighting Irish in the rankings. If Notre Dame can get by a major matchup against the 10-ranked Oklahoma Sooners on Oct. 27, there's a good chance that it'll be unbeaten going into the regular-season finale against USC.