Despite having a bye, the Notre Dame football team’s ranking in the AP Top 25 slipped on Sunday.
They say you can’t lose during a bye week, but the Notre Dame football team appears to have debunked that idea. The Fighting Irish lost two spots in this week’s AP Top 25 after not playing on Saturday due to their last regular-season bye.
With the most recent poll announced on Sunday, the Blue and Gold fell two spots this week, from eighth to tenth in the rankings. The good news is that Marcus Freeman and his team are still in the thick of the postseason race. The bad news is that they’re falling down the rankings at precisely the right time.
Of course, there is no indication that Notre Dame football’s rating on Sunday will influence what happens on Tuesday, when the first official playoff rankings are published. But it doesn’t seem to bode well.
Notre Dame football gets punished for resting
Some may argue that the AP is simply accounting for an overly large jump. The Golden Domers were among the biggest jumpers in last week’s poll, rising from No. 12 to No. 8, but that leap has now been cut in half.
There’s also the argument that BYU and Indiana are still unbeaten and should be ranked higher. Indiana rose five spots this week after defeating Michigan State 47-10 to get to 8-0. BYU remains at No. 9 due to a bye, but they are now ahead of the Irish.
It also didn’t assist Notre Dame’s football team because Texas A&M lost a stunning upset game to South Carolina. More than a few individuals have recently discussed how the SEC team’s win over the Aggies to start the season looks better now than it did then.
