On the outside looking in | by Pat

For the third time in four years, Notre Dame is starting the season out of the Top 25 in the pre-season USA Today Coaches poll. ND received 5 votes, which translates into 43rd place. It's the lowest starting point, rankings-wise, for the Fighting Irish under Charlie and the lowest for ND period since 2002, when ND was slotted in 46th place.

Here is a glimpse at the rankings of the 2008 ND opponents that received votes:

2. USC
24. Michigan
31. Boston College
33. Pittsburgh
40. Michigan State
48. North Carolina

Hardly a murderer's row this season. No clear cut favorite at the top either as Southern Cal was one of six teams to get first place votes. Of course, preseason polls aren't usually even worth the paper they are written on, even if Spurrier didn't vote for Duke this year to "keep the integrity of the poll alive".

Dipping back into a familiar routine, let's take a look at the biggest gainers and losers from last year's final poll to this brand spanking new pre-season version. I certainly agree with the theory that pre-season polls are more of a reflection of the results of the previous season than what we should all expect to see in the coming months. However, there are still a few teams that experience a sizable boost or drop in perception after the final whistle of last season sounds.

The final Coaches Poll from last season can be found here. Comparing the two, Boston College experienced the biggest change in votes of any team, reflecting the loss of Matt Ryan and the army of 5th year seniors on last year's team. Michigan lost a ton of talent as well, but Coach Rodriguez's reputation likely kept the drop from being too severe. Florida welcomes back Heisman winner Tim Tebow and sees the biggest boost in rankings.

biggest gainers team 08 07 final diff 5 Florida 1,293 567 +726 9 Clemson 999 319 +680 12 Wisconsin 747 333 +414 14 Texas Tech 644 242 +402 21 South Florida 350 6 +344 4 Oklahoma 1,329 1,016 +313 11 Auburn 888 624 +264 20 Oregon 399 192 +207 22 Penn State 313 127 +186 23 Wake Forest 203 53 +150

biggest losers team 08 07 final diff Boston College 47 898 -851 13 Kansas 714 1,217 -503 Hawaii 0 427 -427 15 Virginia Tech 568 979 -411 Cincinnati 13 376 -363 6 LSU 1,163 1,500 -337 18 Tennessee 506 826 -320 24 Michigan 112 413 -301 8 WVU 1,008 1,239 -231 7 Missouri 1,143 1,241 -98

Which teams do you think deserved their big swing and which do you think are still either overrated and underrated?