BCS Rankings 2011 : What It Will Take for Notre Dame to Crack the Top 25

Notre Dame has been on quite a roll of late, winners of four straight games after suffering two tough losses to begin the 2011 season.

Yet while things are starting to come together on the field, the Fighting Irish are still having a tough time regaining the respect of the voters, as Notre Dame remains unranked in both major polls.

With the initial BCS standings to be released in a few hours, they also will likely be without Notre Dame in the Top 25, which leads us to one question: What will it take for Notre Dame to crack the Top 25?

That answer should be simple: Notre Dame needs to take care of business Saturday night against a 5-1 USC team.

A 5-2 Notre Dame team will be tough to overlook by that time and quite honestly, that's probably the right record, given the 0-2 start to the season.

Had the Irish not had a week off and had won a game, then you would more than likely see them included in the BCS rankings. But at 4-2 and with only one real good win to date, it's probably tough to make a case for them.

The Michigan State win looks very good on paper and the Air Force win isn't a bad one either. Yet, wins against Pitt and Purdue, which were much needed to get the Irish on the right track, won't open up anyone's eyes.

With a high profile program like the Trojans coming to South Bend on Saturday, the formula should be simple.

Win and Notre Dame should be back on the path to regaining some respect nationally. After that, there are games against Navy and Wake Forest that are certainly winnable.

Add to that games against Maryland and Boston College and the Irish should be in a real good position when it comes to the season finale against Stanford, which will be a big game for both teams.

That’s looking a little too far ahead though. The immediate goal is to take care of the Trojans on Saturday.

However, if they fail to do so, it could be a long road back for Notre Dame.