Sept. 30, 2005

Five of the University of Notre Dame’s six fall sports teams currently are ranked among the national top 25 of their respective coaches polls. That level of across-the-board success is unmatched among any other school in the country when looking at those six sports (five schools are listed among the top 25 in four of those sports).

Notre Dame’s current nationally-ranked teams include women’s cross country (3rd), women’s soccer (6th), men’s cross country (6th), volleyball (10th) and football (14th). Six Irish teams had been ranked in the previous week’s coaches pools, with the Irish men’s soccer team recently dropping out after a loss to a Cincinnati team currently ranked 21st in the national poll.

The Notre Dame football (3-1), soccer (9-1 women, 5-3 men) and volleyball (9-1) teams have combined to win better than 80 percent of their games this season (26-6; .813).

In addition to being the only school ranked in the top 25 of five fall sports, Notre Dame holds the distinction of being the only school with four top-10 teams among those six sports (the University of California has four in the top 15). Notre Dame also rates among the nation’s top combined cross country programs, joining Colorado, Stanford and BYU as schools with their men’s and women’s cross country teams both currently ranked seventh or higher.

The Notre Dame football team has jumped into the national polls after an impressive start that includes road wins over two teams that were ranked in the top 25 (#21 Pittsburgh and 3rd-ranked Michigan) and an overtime loss to current #11 Michigan State. The Irish women’s soccer team — which opened the season with the nation’s No. 1 ranking — has racked up a 48-5 scoring margin while registering wins over three teams (Florida, Maryland and Michigan) that have been ranked in the national polls, with the lone loss coming on the road at then-No. 6 Santa Clara (2-1).

The Notre Dame volleyball team’s historic start has featured the program’s highest ranking (8th) since 1996, thanks to wins over #11 Texas, #8 USC and #6 Florida. The men’s soccer squad registered an early 4-1 win over traditional power and then-No. 6-ranked SMU, with each of the team’s losses coming by one goal versus current top-25 teams (#14 Wake Forest, #8 St. John’s and #21 Cincinnati).

Notre Dame’s cross country teams will have the chance to showcase their national status this weekend, when the Irish play host to the annual Notre Dame Invitational. The race will include 16 teams currently ranked among the top-30 of the national coaches polls.

The Notre Dame athletic department has been recognized with a top national rating from Sports Illustrated on Campus, in its first release of all-sports rankings that evaluate current national poll standings.

SIOC’s formula awarded Notre Dame 105.5 points, well ahead of the second-place team, Duke (80.0). To view the SIOC rankings and comments on the top schools (including a photo of Irish soccer player Kerri Hanks), see the following link: SIOC