Notre Dame Football: Irish could be most underrated team in the nation

Notre Dame football is one of the most storied programs in college football history and they could continue to add to the tradition with a big year in 2017.

No. 21 Notre Dame football has nearly been perfect this season. The only blemish on Notre Dame’s record is a one-point loss to one of the best teams in the country in the No. 5 ranked Georgia Bulldogs. That game could have gone either way as well.

Notre Dame has four wins this year, including a convincing 20-point victory over the Michigan State Spartans. We’ll see in Week 6 how good Michigan State actually is when they travel to Michigan Stadium to face in-state rival the Michigan Wolverines.

Winning out would mean a trip to the College Football Playoff for the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame is such a well-known brand that the Playoff Committee would be more than happy to add them into the field. However, the Irish still have a while to go before reaching that point.

The Week 6 matchup between Notre Dame and the North Carolina Tar Heels should have been a more anticipated game. Yet, UNC only has one win in five games and Notre Dame enters as a two touchdown favorite. It should not be too much of a problem for the Irish in Chapel Hill, NC, in Week 6.

Bouncing Notre Dame from the AP Top 25 so early after the Georgia loss might have been a drastic reaction. The Oct. 21 meeting with the No. 14 USC Trojans will tell us a lot about how good Notre Dame actually is.

We do know that the Irish have one of the best rushing attacks in the nation between junior quarterback Brandon Wimbush and junior running back Josh Adams.

The Auburn Tigers went through a similar situation to that of Notre Dame. Auburn dropped a bit in the top 25 rankings after a six-point loss to the defending national champion Clemson Tigers. Keeping up with Clemson like that on the road was actually quite impressive.

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When it’s all said and done, Notre Dame could wind up right in the thick of the playoff picture. Head coach Brian Kelly has the Irish headed down a good path after a disappointing four-win season in 2016. The college football world will start to recognize that soon.