AP Top 25 Poll: Is the Media Overvaluing Wins Against Notre Dame?

When it comes to Notre Dame, there is great disconnect in the media between how they see the Fighting Irish program and what beating Notre Dame means.

The prevailing view of Notre Dame if that of a former powerhouse that is living off its past glories and can no longer recruit the kind of talent needed to compete with the top schools in the BCS conferences.

Many college football pundits believe first-year head coach Brian Kelly is the man to return Notre Dame to national championship contenders (didn't they also say that about Tyrone Willingham and Charlie Weis?), but nobody thinks it will happen this year. That's why the Irish started the season unranked.

Still, in the past three weeks, victories over Notre Dame have catapulted Michigan, Michigan State, and Stanford up the AP Top 25 Poll.

The Wolverines and Spartans were unranked before last-minute comeback wins against the Irish moved them to 20th and 25th, respectively, in the AP Poll. The Cardinal jumped from 16th to ninth after a 23-point win over Notre Dame last week.

If Notre Dame (1-3) is such a fallen program, why do the 60 AP voters still consider a win over the Irish a reliable barometer of how good these teams are?

Stanford's ascension is particularly troubling. AP voters moved them up seven spots and ahead of four other 4-0 teams they were previously behind: LSU, Utah, Arizona, and Wisconsin. Is defeating Notre Dame really worth that much?

Michigan needed one the greatest individual performances in college football history from QB Denard Robinson (502 total yards and three touchdowns) for its 28-24 win.

Michigan State needed a touchdown pass on a fake field-goal in overtime that should not have counted (the play clock expired before the ball was snapped) for its 34-31 win.

If either those victories had come against any other unranked team with a losing record, there is no way they would put in a Top 25 poll.

The Irish are a 2.5-point favorite over the Boston College Eagles on Saturday at Alumni Stadium. If the Eagles (coming off a 19-0 loss to Virginia Tech last week) should prevail, will they too find themselves catapulted into the next Top 25 poll?

The way AP voters are ranking teams, you never know.