Irish Still in the Hunt

You might have thought, with some of the upsets this weekend, that Notre Dame would rocket up the polls. It didn't happen. Some A.P. media dudes dared to move Auburn ahead of the Irish just because the Tigers beat previously undefeated Florida. That's the same Auburn that lost to Arkansas a week earlier.

Anyway, that dropped Notre Dame one spot to No. 10 in the A.P. poll. It stayed at No. 8 in the coaches' poll.

More important, however, is the fact the Irish are No. 8 in the first BCS poll. Why is that important? By finishing in the top 8, Notre Dame would earn an automatic BCS bowl berth. It just qualifies if it's in the top 12.

Basically, if the Irish win out, they have no worries. They even might, with a lot of breaks, still qualify for the national championship game. But that would include beating undefeated USC in Los Angeles on Nov. 25. And as the Trojans have showed in recent weeks, they're not invincible. So it could make for a dramatic regular-season ending conclusion.