Sports : It’s Official: Notre Dame Is No. 1

Notre Dame’s record eighth national championship became official today when the Irish were a near-unanimous choice as the No. 1 team in the Associated Press postseason college football poll.

Michigan, a 22-14 winner over USC in the Rose Bowl on Monday, made the biggest jump ahead in the poll, leaping from No. 11 to No. 4. Notre Dame, a 34-21 winner over West Virginia in Monday’s Fiesta Bowl, received 58 1/2 first-place votes from a nationwide panel of 60 sportswriters and sportscasters. Miami, the 1987 national champion, received the other 1 1/2 first-place ballots and finished No. 2. West Virginia’s loss to Notre Dame dropped the Mountaineers from third to fifth. Florida State advanced from fourth to third. Rounding out the Top Ten were UCLA, USC, Auburn, Clemson and Nebraska.