Notre Dame Moves Up In Rankings

The BCS rankings are out, the polls are out and Notre Dame took a jump. It moved up four spots to fifth in the BCS standings, which puts it solidly within the top 8 needed to earn an automatic BCS bowl bid.

To nobody's surprise, Ohio State and Michigan remain No. 1 and No. 2. USC is third and Florida is fourth. Rutgers made the biggest move, jumping seven spots to No. 6.

In the coaches poll, Notre Dame is fifth. It's sixth in the AP poll, with Arkansas slipping in at No. 5.

All this is the result of Saturday's flurry of upsets. Texas, Auburn and California lost. Louisville lost on Thursday. Yes, the Irish notice. In fact, they found out the result of the Texas-Kansas State game as soon as their flight home from Air Force Saturday night landed.

"You should have heard the roar from the back of the plane when the K-State/Texas game was announced," coach Charlie Weis said today. "They are well aware of what's going on. These kids are dialed in just like the rest of us."

Who knows? A few more upsets, a couple of dominating performances against Army and USC, and the Irish might earn a national title berth after all.