Notre Dame football absolutely earned its Big AP Top 25 drop

Notre Dame football’s massive drop in the AP poll was well earned even if some may claim it’s a bit severe after a loss to a ranked team on the road.

Following a blowout loss to the Louisville Cardinals, the Notre Dame football team finds itself nearly outside the AP Top 25. While some Irish fans might be a little perturbed that the squad fell so fast, considering they lost to another Top 25 team on the road, it seems as though Marcus Freeman’s team deserved this.

Notre Dame football entered Saturday’s tilt against Louisville ranked 10th in the country, moving up one spot from the previous week. However, following the 33-20 loss, the Irish fell all the way to 21st.

The 11-spot drop was the most of any team in the AP poll. Interestingly enough the Cardinals jumped from 25th to 14th, an 11-spot rise. Also the biggest of any team in the week.

Despite Notre Dame football losing on the road to a team that the AP voters believe is very good (they’re now 6-0) it’s not hard to understand why the Fighting Irish took such a fall. It’s almost certainly not based just on the Louisville loss alone.

Notre Dame football deserves to stumble

It feels more likely that the Louisville loss was paired with a come-from-behind win over Duke in order to drop the Irish as far as they did.

While Marcus Freeman’s squad was able to pull out that victory, it wasn’t a particularly well-played game. In fact, Notre Dame football spent most of the game looking as though they were going to lose.

Against Louisville, the Irish held a 10-7 lead late in the 3rd quarter. They then surrendered the lead and then sunk further behind. It appears the AP voters believe the team that collapsed on Saturday night is the real Notre Dame football team.