Notre Dame Football: Breaking Down the No. 24 Ranking in ESPN Preseason Poll

Now that all of the hoopla is over with spring ball, it's becoming that time to put together a top 25 for the college football season. We know who's coming back and who's not for each team, and we have a good idea of what to expect.

ESPN recently released a preseason top 25 that has everybody talking. USC is listed as the No. 1 team and surprisingly the defending national champions are No. 3 in the preseason poll.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are listed No. 24 in the polls. Surprised?

Let's take a look and see if ESPN got it right with this one.

Returning Starters: 13

Too High?

If you wanted this team to be any higher in the preseason poll, they likely wouldn't be ranked at all, but some would argue that they shouldn't be. After all, every season we talk about this team heading into the year and lately they've let us down year after year. I'm not saying that will be the case this season, but when you began to build a reputation of coming up short, you could understand why they are ranked as low as they are.

The Irish also have yet to settle on a quarterback this season, and if it's anything like we've seen in the last couple of years, this team will continue to struggle. The turnovers have absolutely killed this team over the last two seasons (53 combined) and things drastically have to improve if this season will be the most successful in recent memory.

Quarterback Tommy Rees showed that he isn't the future of this program. He continued to make terrible decisions with the football throughout the year and wasn't much better in the spring game. That would likely make the starter one of the other options, but the downside to that is the lack of experience, which could force another sub-par season.

The Irish also lack playmakers on the offensive side of the ball. Wide receiver Michael Floyd is no longer on the roster and running back Jonas Gray is also playing in the NFL. Both T.J. Jones and Theo Reddick have been consistent contributors throughout their careers, but can one of them step up to become the No. 1 go to guy on this offense?

Can Notre Dame's offense really survive with tight end Tyler Eifert being the No. 1 option?

Notre Dame also has issues in the secondary with so many players in the defensive backfield graduating last season. This was a unit that was ranked 38th in the country a year ago in passing yards allowed. Things could change for the worst if some of the young guys can't learn on the fly.

Also, who's going to replace defensive end Arron Lynch, who recently transferred to South Florida? This is a team that struggled a bit to pressure the quarterback and they now just lost last year's sack leader.

Too Low?

Despite the questions at the quarterback position, Everett Golson appears to be the front-runner for the position. He played extremely well in the spring game and if named the starter, he could provide this offense with a much needed spark. He's a dual-threat quarterback and has big play ability to help lead this team.

Also, with questions on the offense and lack of playmakers, we must remember that head coach Brian Kelly is an offensive guru and knows how to put his players in the best position to succeed. Even with all of the mistakes this team made last season, they still averaged 30 points on offense, which is good enough to win a lot of football games.

Linebacker Manti Te'o returned for his senior season and will be the leader on the defensive side of the ball once again. He has NFL first-round talent and will be a blessing for a defense that lost a few key pieces. He was a 2011 All-Conference player last season and will be a difference maker for this team. One great player doesn't make the defense, but they sure can make a huge impact and cover up a few holes it may have.

This is an experienced team for the most part and is still very talented. Last year was supposed to be the year the Irish made a BCS run, but this is a team that can surprise if they can avoid turning the ball over so much.

Overall

When looking at the ranking, I'd say Notre Dame is right where they should be. They have many questions they have to answer and don't have a legitimate answer at the quarterback position yet. I would have them above Boise State (a team ranked one spot above the Irish, that lost nearly every player on their roster) but there shouldn't be too many complaints about where they are in the polls.

This is a talented team that could make a run if they get production from the quarterback, but the schedule this year is absolutely brutal. It's going to be another interesting year for Notre Dame this season.