AKRON, Ohio >> Gerry Faust, the gravel-voiced Cincinnati high school coach who lived a dream by becoming the coach at Notre Dame, has died. He was 89.

Notre Dame said in an email to the Associated Press on Tuesday that the family confirmed Faust’s death. No details were immediately provided.

Faust guided the Fighting Irish from 1981-85, compiling a record of 30-26-1. He succeeded Dan Devine as coach of Notre Dame and preceded Lou Holtz.

“I have always loved Notre Dame and still do,” he said after he was fired following the 1985 season.

He spent the next nine seasons as the head coach at the University of Akron, bringing the program from Division II to major-college status. His record was 43-53-3 with the Zips.

He remained at Akron after his coaching days, working as a fundraiser and in the development office before retiring in 2001.

It was as a high school coach that Faust first stepped into the spotlight.

After graduating in 1958 from the University of Dayton with a degree in marketing and management, Faust accepted his first coaching position as an assistant at his high school alma mater, Dayton Chaminade. His father, Gerry Sr., had coached at Chaminade for 49 years.

Two seasons later, Faust accepted an offer to build a football program at a new high school, Archbishop Moeller, in suburban Cincinnati.

He spent three years constructing the foundation of what would become a legendary program in high school athletics.

Oregon still on top

Undefeated Oregon stayed on top in the second batch of College Football Playoff rankings, while Tuesday’s poll shoved Georgia out of the bracket after its lopsided loss to Mississippi.

Led by the Ducks, then Ohio State, the Big Ten captured four of the top five spots — a string interrupted only by Texas of the Southeastern Conference, which was slotted in at No. 3 and would receive a first-round bye.

Georgia’s 28-10 loss to Mississippi dropped the Bulldogs from third to all the way to 12th, but they would be the first team out because No. 13 Boise State of the Mountain West would receive an automatic bid and the final spot in the 12-team bracket as the fifth-best conference champion.

BYU was ranked sixth, but would receive a first-round bye as the Big 12’s champion if it wins out.

Those byes go to the four highest-ranked conference champs, meaning Miami of the Atlantic Coast Conference would get a week off in this week’s version of the bracket despite a loss to Georgia Tech that dropped the Hurricanes to No. 9.

The other ranked teams: No. 4 Penn State, No. 5 Indiana, No. 7 Tennessee, No. 8 Notre Dame, No. 10 Alabama and No. 11 Mississippi.

Both the SEC and Big Ten placed four teams in the projected Week 2 bracket.

Undefeated Army of the American Athletic Conference moved up one spot to No. 24, while Colorado came in at No. 17. Coach Deion Sanders’ Buffaloes can earn a spot in the Big 12 title game by winning their next two games.

Smart apologizes

Georgia coach Kirby Smart said he went too far when he called backup safety Jake Pope an “idiot” for appearing to celebrate with Mississippi fans following the Bulldogs’ loss to the Rebels last week.

Pope issued an apology on Monday after a video of him appearing to celebrate following the Bulldogs’ 28-10 loss at Ole Miss on the field with Rebels fans drew sharp criticism from Smart.

Briefly

>> Southern California’s football program has been fined $50,000 and placed on probation for one year by the NCAA because of multiple violations of coaching staff rules over two seasons.

>> Boston College is making a change at quarterback, with coach Bill O’Brien saying Grayson James will start against No. 14 SMU on Saturday in place of Thomas Castellanos.