After a weekend of major upsets, Notre Dame (11-0), the only undefeated, bowl-eligible BCS team, was ranked No. 1 in the nation Sunday by all three ratings — the USA Today coaches, Associated Press and, most important, the BCS.
Alabama (10-1) is second and Georgia (10-1) third in both polls and the BCS standings.
The top two teams in the BCS standings will play for the national championship on Jan. 7 in Miami.
It is the first time since 1993 that Notre Dame is ranked No. 1. The Fighting Irish collected all 60 first-place votes in the AP media poll. Alabama received two first-place votes and Georgia one from the coaches.
The Irish, with a .9973 rating, are a clear No. 1 in the BCS standings. Alabama is next at .9333, followed by Georgia at .8763. Roundup out the top five are Florida (10-1) at .8434 and Oregon (10-1) at .8318.
Although Notre Dame scored a 30-0 victory over Wake Forest on Saturday, the Fighting Irish have not been dominant during a season that includes six wins by seven points or fewer, three of those by three points. Notre Dame needed three overtimes to beat Pitt, 29-26, and another overtime to get past Stanford, 20-13.
The Fighting Irish will have a chance to validate their top ranking Saturday when they visit talent-laden, and previously top-ranked, Southern California. The Trojans are only 9-4 after a 38-28 loss to cross-town rival UCLA, and they appear to have lost quarterback Matt Barkley, a former Heisman Trophy front-runner, to a separated shoulder.
Even so, USC will test Notre Dame’s defense with a talented set of wide receivers, led by another Heisman Trophy candidate, Marquis Lee. If Barkley is sidelined, the Trojans can plug in 6-foot-4, 235-pound freshman quarterback Max Wittek, whose arm is stronger than Barkley’s.
Alabama faces rival Auburn in a home game Saturday, while Georgia plays host to Georgia Tech. Should the Crimson Tide and Bulldogs both win, they’d meet in the SEC championship game the following weekend, with the winner advancing to the national title game.
Notre Dame can thank others for plenty of help to pave the way from No. 3 to No. 1.
Previously unbeaten Kansas State was blasted out the BCS’s No. 1 spot by Baylor, 52-24, Saturday afternoon and fell to No. 6. Then, Saturday night, then-No. 2 Oregon saw its 54-points-per-game offense stopped by a sturdy Stanford defense, 17-14 in overtime.
The Wildcats (10-1) slipped to No. 7 in the AP poll, No. 8 in the coaches poll.
Stanford (9-2) edged up from No. 13 to No. 8 in the BCS standings.