Despite not making the cut for the BCS top 25 rankings, Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish football team could be making a huge jump in the ratings thanks to an impressive early start on the season.

Pat Forde of Yahoo! Sports explained how the Fighting Irish and their five-straight wins have set them up nicely prior to the official release of the BCS rankings.

“Despite the overwhelming belief among human voters that Alabama is the best team in America and Oregon is No. 2, the computers aren't buying it. At least not yet. The Dash looked at five of the six rankings that are used by the BCS – Wolfe doesn't release its first public rankings until Sunday – and four different teams are ranked No. 1: Alabama (Sagarin), Florida (Anderson & Hester), Oregon (Billingsley) and Notre Dame (Colley and Massey).”

He continued that Notre Dame is in second place, according to computer rankings, falling only behind Florida. In the second spot, The Fighting Irish have a plus-five spot difference from the USA Today coaches poll.

“The Fighting Irish benefit from having played four major-conference opponents – if indeed the Big Ten counts as a major conference in 2012. And they could conceivably move up to the computer top spot with a victory over highly ranked Stanford on Saturday.”

“There’s no quicker way to climb computer rankings than impressively defeat an impressive schedule, even if the pollsters are lagging a few spots behind,” wrote Keith Arnold for NBC Sports.

Notre Dame’s ranking relies heavily on their impending match up with Stanford on Saturday. If they fail to beat the Stanford Cardinals, their rankings will feel the blow. However, a victory will of course reinforce their already stunning early season performance.