It may be head coach Brian Kelly’s first year at the helm, but positive change is already tangible.

While the 2008 and 2009 Irish squads finished 1-8 in November, this year’s unit went 3-0. It isn’t time to anoint Kelly the next Lou Holtz or Ara Parseghian, but Notre Dame played its best football down the stretch without several critical players such as quarterback Dayne Crist, …

Editor’s note: The previous week’s results can be found here: week 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7 and 6.

The dust has settled on the 2011 season, and the Auburn Tigers came out on top. It was quite the turnaround for head coach Gene Chizik. Auburn finished the 2009 season in relatively pedestrian fashion. The Tigers compiled an 8-5 record, including a dubious …

Editor’s note: Special thanks to ESP and AVR co-creator Vincenzo Siciliano for his effort in the work outlined below. He did the analysis, I just made a few observations and wrote up this summary.

Disclaimer #1: The following is not intended for betting purposes.

Disclaimer #2: The following analysis does not include the Army—Navy game last weekend. It is not expected that excluding this …

Editor’s note: Be sure to check back for the final installment of the ESP when the final AV Ranking (AVR) will be used to predict the bowl game outcomes. The previous week’s results can be found here: 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7 and 6.

The season ended with three undefeated teams but only two will be playing for the BCS National Championship in …

The Irish stopped the Trojans eight-game win streak in dramatic fashion Saturday night. Robert Hughes five-yard touchdown run with 2:23 remaining capped off a physical, run-heavy drive that gave head coach Brian Kelly his second three-game win streak of the season.

Looking back this could certainly be a season of what if’s. What if quarterback Dayne Crist hadn’t been injured in the Michigan game? What …

There was some shuffling atop the polls and the AVR this week as three teams—Boise State, LSU, and Oklahoma State —in last week’s ESP top 10 lost.

The Broncos fell one spot in the AVR but fell more sharply in both the AP and Coaches Polls dropping five spots in the former and seven in the latter. LSU dropped from 6th to 13th in the …

After getting shellacked by Navy and losing a heartbreaker to Tulsa (with some questionable coaching decisions to boot), it was difficult to imagine the Irish becoming bowl eligible, let alone having a chance to win out.

But Notre Dame has outscored their last two opponents by a combined 55-6 and heads to the West Coast to battle the rival Trojans on the heels of two …

Three of the top four AVR teams were idle this week, and Boise State blanked Fresno State. Auburn and the Broncos remain one and two while TCU and Oregon flip-flopped. Of all the teams in the top 10, the Ducks have the least impressive resume with the 109th ranked strength of schedule.

The Irish moved from 52nd to 37th with their win over the Black …

The contest against Utah wasn’t decided by production. For the most part, it wasn’t decided by efficiency either.

The Irish won because they created opportunities and took advantage of them. Notre Dame was able to force two turnovers—one that turned into seven points on the next play—block a punt for a touchdown, and string together two 60-plus yard touchdown drives.

But it was the defense …

The Irish host 15th ranked Utah Saturday in the first ever meeting between the two schools.

Notre Dame limps into the contest off a bye week at 4-5, and with a rash of injuries to key personnel including quarterback Dayne Crist and several of his primary targets.

The last two outings—a decisive loss to Navy and a home loss to Tulsa that featured a questionable …