Notre Dame Gets Back to the Top 10

Notre Dame is a top-10 team for the first time in three years.

Charlie Weis’ Fighting Irish are No. 10 in the Associated Press Top 25 media poll released Sunday, jumping 10 spots after upsetting then-No. 3 Michigan, 17-10, Saturday to improve to 2-0.

Weis is the first Notre Dame coach since Knute Rockne in 1918 to win his first two games on the road, helping the Fighting Irish to their highest ranking since they were seventh in late November 2002.

Notre Dame plays host to Michigan State (2-0) on Saturday.

No. 1 USC was idle on Saturday, and No. 2 Texas’ 25-22 win at then-No. 4 Ohio State helped the Longhorns make up some ground on the Trojans.

USC received 56 of 64 first-place votes, down from the 61 it had last week.

Texas pulled in eight first-place votes, up from four in the first poll.

No. 3 Louisiana State moved up two spots after a 35-31 win at Arizona State. Virginia Tech is No. 4. Tennessee will be No. 5 when it plays at No. 6 Florida Saturday.

No. 7 Georgia and No. 8 Florida State are followed by Ohio State and Notre Dame.

In the USA Today coaches’ poll, USC, Texas and LSU are the top three. Tennessee and Virginia Tech are tied for fourth and Georgia is sixth.

In the AP poll, Michigan dropped 11 spots to No. 14, Ohio State fell five spots to No. 9 and Iowa tumbled 14 spots to No. 22 after a 22-3 loss to Iowa State.

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After one quarter Saturday, Arkansas had 200 total yards to Vanderbilt’s 10. The Razorbacks had run 28 plays. The Commodores had no first downs.

And Arkansas led only 7-0.

“This is a very sick feeling this morning,” Razorback Coach Houston Nutt said a day after his team’s 28-24 loss.

Now, Arkansas must regroup for No. 1 USC at the Coliseum on Saturday.

“We have to correct and improve and go play this other team called USC,” Nutt said.