Notre Dame is projected as one of the top teams in the country for the 2022 season, according to ESPN’s SP+ metric.

The Fighting Irish came in at No. 7 on the latest update, which was published by Bill Connelly on Monday morning. Notre Dame was at No. 8 back in February.

The update reflects changes to rosters via the transfer portal that have happened since early February.

Notre Dame’s overall rating improved slightly from 19.0 to 19.6. It jumped Texas A&M, as the Aggies fell back from No. 6 to No. 8 in this update.

One consistent theme in this update is the top 3 of Ohio State, Alabama and Georgia remain well ahead of the rest of college football. According to SP+, those 3 teams would be favored by roughly a touchdown (or slightly more) on a neutral field against any other team in the country.

SP+ uses a formula derived from factors that include returning production, recent history and recent recruiting rankings.

Notre Dame ranks No. 54 nationally in returning production, according to Connelly’s formula:

Notre Dame opens the 2022 season at Ohio State on Sept. 3.