Rece Davis thinks Notre Dame is a top-five team in college football right now. Not based on wins, not based on resume, just based on what he calls the “eye test.” And honestly, that take might be the worst one we’ve heard all week.
This is a two-loss Notre Dame team we’re talking about. They lost to Miami and Texas A&M in back-to-back weeks. Sure, they’ve looked better since. They’ve won a couple of games and beat up on some teams they were supposed to handle. But top-five? While there are still undefeated teams out there grinding through their schedules? That’s just lazy.
The problem here isn’t that Rece Davis has an opinion. Everyone does. The problem is acting like the “eye test” is some sort of objective metric when it’s just another way to prop up the usual suspects. Notre Dame has brand power, no doubt. They sell tickets, they move ratings, and the media loves them. But at some point, performance has to matter more than perception.
If a Big 12 team like BYU or Texas Tech had two losses and started getting top-five hype in November, people would lose their minds. They’d say the resume isn’t strong enough, the schedule isn’t good enough, or that they haven’t passed the real tests yet. But when it’s Notre Dame, suddenly the eye test is all that counts? That’s the double standard, and it’s exactly why fans outside the blueblood bubble get fed up.
Notre Dame is good. They’re talented. They might even be playing like a top-10 team right now. But you don’t get to erase two losses because it feels better to keep the Irish in the picture. If the eye test says they’re top five, maybe it’s time to get your eyes checked.
