Notre Dame finishes No. 3 in final Paste BN Sports Coaches Poll

There was no luck for the Irish on Monday night, as Alabama steamrolled Notre Dame 42-14 to claim its second consecutive BCS title and third championship in four years.

The bad luck continued for Notre Dame (12-1) in the final Paste BN Sports Coaches Poll with Irish dipping to No. 3, while Alabama finished as expected at No. 1.

Fiesta Bowl champion Oregon (12-1) finished second, while Capital One Bowl champion Georgia (12-2) and Cotton Bowl champion Texas A&M (11-2) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Several non-BCS schools made up the final poll, including No. 24 Northern Illinois, which fell from No. 16 after its Orange Bowl loss to Florida State.

Vanderbilt, Cincinnati, and Tulsa all joined the final top 25 after not being ranked previously.

Three coaches, Ruffin McNeill of East Carolina, Mike MacIntyre of Colorado (and formerly of San Jose State) and Sonny Dykes of California (and formerly of Louisiana Tech), could not be reached by 1:45 a.m. ET to provide ballots.