2010 Notre Dame Football Supplement 2011 All-Time Rankings Summary Notre Dame holds the distinction of being ranked in the Associated Press poll 712 times in history. Only two other colleges have been ranked by the AP more often. Since the poll began in 1936, rankings have been published on 1,021 occasions. Notre Dame has been ranked 712 times or in 69.7 percent of all polls taken. Here’s a top 10 listing of teams and how many times they’ve appeared in the AP rankings through the years: 1. Ohio State 2. Michigan 3. Notre Dame 4. Oklahoma 5. USC 6. Texas 7. Nebraska 8. Alabama 9. Penn State 10. Tennessee
785 761 712 704 696 678 670 661 583 564
Here’s a decade-by-decade listing of who has appeared most in the AP rankings: 1936-39 (31 polls) 1. Duke 2. Notre Dame 3. Santa Clara 4. Pittsburgh Fordham 6. Alabama 7. Minnesota Tennessee Dartmouth 10. USC
30 27 25 24 24 23 22 22 22 21
1940-49 (88 polls) 1. Michigan 2. Notre Dame 3. Pennsylvania 4. Army 5. Texas 6. Minnesota 7. Duke 8. Ohio State 9. Tennessee 10. Georgia Tech
87 85 72 71 58 53 50 49 45 44
1950-59 (116 polls) 1. Oklahoma 2. Michigan State 3. Notre Dame 4. Ohio State 5. Georgia Tech 6. USC Wisconsin 8. Mississippi 9. Texas 10. Maryland
110 86 83 81 75 74 74 73 65 59
1960-69 (126 polls) 1. Alabama 2. Texas 3. USC Arkansas 5. Notre Dame 6. Ohio State 7. Michigan State 8. Mississippi 9. Purdue 10. Nebraska
98 90 80 80 78 74 68 64 63 59
1970-79 (148 polls) 1. Michigan 2. Nebraska 3. Oklahoma 4. Texas 5. Ohio State 6. Alabama 7. Notre Dame 8. USC 9. Penn State 10. Arkansas 1980-89 (159 polls) 1. Nebraska 2. Oklahoma 3. Michigan 4. Miami Alabama 6. Florida State Georgia 8. Auburn 9. Penn State UCLA 14. Notre Dame
148 147 139 138 137 135 134 133 128 99
157 137 129 127 127 123 123 120 119 119 95
1990-99 (169 polls) 1. Florida State Nebraska 3. Florida 4. Michigan Penn State 6. Tennessee 7. Ohio State 8. Texas A&M 9. Miami (FL) Colorado 11. Notre Dame
169 169 165 161 161 158 153 141 138 138 136
2000-2009 (166 polls) 1. Texas 2. Florida 3. Ohio State 4. Oklahoma 5. Virginia Tech 6. Georgia 7. USC 8. LSU 9. Michigan 10. Miami, Fla. 19. Notre Dame
165 154 151 148 143 142 138 137 123 120 75
2010 (16 polls) 1. Auburn TCU Oregon Ohio State Oklahoma Wisconsin LSU Boise State Alabama Arkansas Nebraska
16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16
Since 1936, Notre Dame ranks second for the most appearances as the top-ranked team in the country. In the 1,021 AP polls taken, the Irish have been atop the standings on 95 different occasions. Here’s a top 10 listing of teams and how many times they’ve been ranked first through the years: 1. Oklahoma 2. Notre Dame 3. Ohio State 4. USC 5. Nebraska 6. Miami (Fla.) 7. Florida State 8. Alabama Texas 10. Florida
97 95 94 90 70 68 59 45 45 41
Here’s a decade-by-decade listing of who has appeared most atop the AP listings: 1936-39 (31 polls) 1. Pittsburgh 2. Minnesota Tennessee Texas A&M 5. Notre Dame Northwestern California 8. TCU 9. USC
8 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 1
1940-49 (88 polls) 1. Notre Dame 2. Army 3. Minnesota 4. Michigan 5. Cornell Ohio State 7. Georgia Texas 9. Boston College 10. North Carolina
30 22 11 10 4 4 3 3 1 1
1950-59 (116 polls) 1. Oklahoma 2. Michigan State 3. LSU 4. Notre Dame 5. Tennessee 6. Ohio State 7. Maryland 8. Army Syracuse 10. UCLA
26 16 14 13 8 7 6 5 5 4
1960-69 (126 polls) 1. Texas 2. USC 3. Ohio State 4. Notre Dame 5. Michigan State 6. Alabama 7. Iowa 8. Mississippi Purdue 10. Minnesota
23 19 17 16 13 9 6 5 5 3
1970-79 (148 polls) 1. Ohio State 2. USC 3. Oklahoma 4. Nebraska 5. Alabama 6. Michigan Texas 8. Notre Dame Pittsburgh 10. Penn State
32 25 22 17 14 12 12 5 5 4
1980-89 (159 polls) 1. Notre Dame Oklahoma 3. Nebraska 4. Miami (Fla.) 5. Georgia 6. Washington 7. Penn State 8. Pittsburgh 9. Alabama 10. Iowa
21 21 20 19 11 10 9 8 7 5
1990-99 (169 polls) (Note: Washington/Miami tied a week in 1992) 1. Florida State 55 3. Nebraska 23 2. Florida 21 4. Miami 19 5. Ohio State 10 6. Penn State 8 7. Notre Dame 7 Michigan 7 9. Tennessee 6 10. Colorado 5 2000-2009 (166 polls) 1. USC 2. Miami 3. Oklahoma 4. Ohio State 5. Florida 6. Nebraska 7. Alabama 8. LSU 9. Texas 10. Florida State 2010 (16 polls) 1. Oregon 2. Alabama 3. Auburn 4. Ohio State
42 30 26 21 19 9 8 5 4 1
7 6 2 1
Notre Dame also boasts the fourth-longest streak for consecutive rankings by appearing somewhere in the AP rankings in 159 consecutive polls beginning with the poll published September 28, 1964 and ending on November 17, 1975. Nebraska owns the longest consecutive ranking streak with 330, which ended in 2002, followed by Florida State with 237 and Michigan with 194.
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