Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1331416
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com FEBRUARY 2021 11 UNDER THE DOME 3 First-team All-Pro selections for Indianapolis Colts left guard QUENTON NELSON, a unanimous All-American at Notre Dame in 2017. He has tied quarterback Joe Montana for the fourth-most first-team NFL All-Pro selections among Fighting Irish alumni. Defensive lineman Alan Page (1964-66) is at the top with six, while current Dallas Cowboys right guard Zack Martin (2010-13) and linebacker George Connor (1946-47) have four. 5 Ranking for Notre Dame in the final Associated Press poll of the season. The No. 5 finish is tied for the second best by the Fighting Irish in the last 27 years. Notre Dame has finished in the top 10 only four times during that span: 2005 (No. 9), 2012 (No. 4), 2018 (No. 5) and 2020 (No. 5). The Irish also placed No. 11 in 1995, 2015 and 2017. Notre Dame has not had consecutive AP top-10 finishes since 1992 (No. 4) and 1993 (No. 2). However, the four straight top-12 placements are a first since the seven in a row under Ara Parseghian from 1964-70. In the AP poll's 85-year history, this is the 25th time the Irish placed among the top five, three of them under head coach Brian Kelly. The eight national titles, with the most recent in 1988, are the highlight, with five other No. 2 finishes. 6-15 Is the range where Notre Dame appeared in six dif- ferent "way too early" rankings for 2021 hours after Alabama captured its sixth national title in 12 years with a 52-24 win over Ohio State Jan. 11. • Sporting News' Bill Bender has the Fighting Irish No. 6. • Athlon Sports had them No. 9. • The Athletic's Stewart Mandel placed them No. 10. • CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd ranked them No. 11. • Stadium's Brett McMurphy had them at No. 14. • And ESPN's Mark Schlabach had the lowest placement for Notre Dame at No. 15. The consensus top five in all six were Alabama (picked No. 1 by three), Clemson (No. 1 in two), Ohio State (No. 1 in one), Oklahoma and Georgia. 19 Defensive coordinators — including interim (2016) or co-coordinators (2009) — Notre Dame has had since 1980, with Cincinnati's Marcus Freeman the most recent hire. That means there is movement at the position about every 2.2 years. Since 1990, five have gone on to become head coaches: Barry Alvarez (Wis- consin), Rick Minter (Cincinnati), Bob Davie (Notre Dame), Bob Diaco (Con- necticut) and Clark Lea (Vanderbilt). 27 Consecutive losses by Notre Dame's men's basketball to teams ranked in the AP top 25 at the time of the game following an 80-68 defeat at No. 19 Virginia Jan. 13. The last such victory occurred on Nov. 22, 2017, a 67-66 conquest of No. 6 Wichita State to win the Maui Classic in Hawai'i. The Irish then went 0-7 the rest of that season versus ranked teams, 0-8 the ensuing season, 0-6 last year, and 0-6 so far this year with setbacks against No. 13 Michigan State (80-70 on the road), No. 22 Ohio State (90-85), No. 21 Duke (75-65), No. 23 Virginia in the first meeting Dec. 30 (66-57), No. 19 Virginia Tech (77-63 on the road) and Virginia again. The previous longest such streak was 18 from 1994-98. 28/1 The early odds given by BetOnLine of Notre Dame winning the 2021 national title. Alabama is the 7/2 favorite to capture the crown for the seventh time in 13 years. Next up at 4/1 are Clemson and Georgia — who open against each other on Sept. 4 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. Ohio State is at No. 4 (13/2) with Oklahoma right behind at 15/2. Then it is Iowa State (25/1), with Florida tied with the Fighting Irish for the seventh spot. Among Notre Dame's 2021 regular-season opponents, USC has the highest odds of winning it all at 33/1, while North Carolina and Wisconsin are both at 40/1, and Cincinnati 66/1. No other Irish foe is higher than 200/1. ✦ BY THE NUMBERS PHOTO COURTESY INDIANAPOLIS COLTS