Notre Dame football punished for not playing in latest AP Top 25

They say you can’t lose during a bye week, but the Notre Dame football team appears to have proven that myth incorrect. After having not played on Saturday for their final bye of the regular season, the Fighting Irish dropped two spots in this week’s AP Top 25.

With the latest poll just released on Sunday, the Blue and Gold dropped two spots this week, falling from No. 8 to No. 10 in the rankings. The good news is that Marcus Freeman and his bunch are still right in the midst of the playoff rankings. The bad news is that they’re slipping down the list at just the right time.

Of course, there’s no indication that Notre Dame football’s ranking on Sunday will impact what it will be like on Tuesday when the first official playoff rankings are released. But it doesn’t feel like it bodes well.

Notre Dame football gets punished for resting

Some could argue that the AP is simply correcting what was a bit of a too-big jump. The Golden Domers were among the biggest leapers in last week’s poll, jumping from No. 12 to No. 8, and now that jump has been cut in half.

There’s also the argument that BYU and Indiana are still undefeated and deserve to be ranked higher. Indiana jumped five spots this week after improving to 8-0 with a 47-10 win over Michigan State. BYU stayed at No. 9 because of their bye, but that’s ahead of the Irish now.

It also didn’t help the Notre Dame football team that Texas A&M suffered a big upset loss vs. South Carolina. There have been more than a few people who talked recently about how that win over the Aggies to open the season looked better because of what the SEC team has done since then.