COLLEGE FOOTBALL COVID RANKINGS: Notre Dame Climbs Into Top-5 While Sitting Out
During the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, Notre Dame previously jumped from #10 to #7 by showing up to play while multiple conferences sat out. Now the Irish have jumped to #5 by sitting out while others play.
Tuesday of last week, Notre Dame temporarily paused football activities due to an expanded covid outbreak among the team, postponing last Saturday's game to mid-December. More recent testing saw Notre Dame football covid numbers climb higher still, reportedly with 39 players now isolated or quarantined. Just the same, Notre Dame first resumed conditioning activities, and now plans to resume practices starting Wednesday, Sept. 30.
As the Irish sat out, then-top-5 Oklahoma and defending national champions LSU, also top-5 at the time, each suffered upset losses. Notre Dame's upward migration got included in the resulting reshuffling.
The Irish will be sitting out again this coming weekend, with a prearranged bye week. Notre Dame does not play again until their scheduled hosting of Florida State in primetime on Oct. 10.
RANKINGS WHILE NOTRE DAME PAUSED FOOTBALL ACTIVITIES
[Notre Dame green boldface; Notre Dame opponents blue boldface; additional ACC italicized]
[Ranking, Team, First-Place Votes, Record, Poll Points]
AP
1 Clemson (55) 2-0
2 Alabama (3) 1-0
3 Florida 1-0
4 Georgia 1-0
5 Notre Dame 2-0
6 Ohio State (4) 0-0
7 Auburn 1-0
8 Miami (Fla.) 3-0
9 Texas 2-0
10 Penn State 0-0
11 Central Florida 2-0
12 North Carolina 1-0
13 Texas A&M 1-0
14 Oregon 0-0
15 Cincinnati 2-0
16 Mississippi State 1-0
17 Oklahoma State 2-0
18 Oklahoma 1-1
19 Wisconsin 0-0
20 LSU 0-1
21 Tennessee 1-0
22 BYU 2-0
23 Michigan 0-0
24 Pittsburgh 2-0
25 Memphis
Also receiving votes: Virginia Tech 195, Louisiana 126, Minnesota 110, USC 104, Kansas State 60, SMU 37, Marshall 31, Baylor 22, Iowa 16, Utah 14, Virginia 12, Arkansas State 11, UAB 5, Kentucky 4, Louisville 4, Washington 4, Army 3
Coaches Poll
1 Clemson (42) 2-0
2 Alabama (4) 1-0
3 Florida 1-0
4 Georgia 1-0
5 Notre Dame 2-0
6 Ohio State (2) 0-0
7 Auburn 1-0
8 Miami (Fla.) 3-0
9 Texas 2-0
10 Penn State 0-0
11 North Carolina 1-0
12 Central Florida 2-0
13 Texas A&M 1-0
14 Mississippi State 1-0
15 Cincinnati 2-0
16 Oklahoma 1-1
17 LSU 0-1
18 Wisconsin 0-0
19 Oklahoma State 2-0
20 Tennessee 1-0
21 Michigan 0-0
22 BYU 2-0
23 Virginia Tech 1-0
24 Memphis 1-0
25 Pittsburgh 3-0
Also receiving votes: Louisiana 108, Minnesota 106, SMU 46, Kansas State 33, Iowa 32, Virginia 29, Baylor 25, Marshall 22, Kentucky 17, Arkansas State 16, Boston College 9, South Carolina 6, Nebraska 4, UAB 3, Coastal Carolina 3, Army 3, Louisiana Tech 2, Ole Miss 1
Right now the ACC's lone juggarnaut, Clemson, sits at #1, with ACC football quasi-member Notre Dame at #5, and three SEC teams in between them.
The SEC started their seasons this past weekend.
The Big Ten and Pac-12 have announced delayed returns to college football, in late October for the Big Ten and early November for the Pac-12. Yet teams from both those conferences are now featured in both major polls.
Even while sitting out, Notre Dame, by bringing home two wins in September before their "pause," still has one more win than any SEC team.
That long delay before the hoped-for Florida State game arguably could fit the necessary time frame for a covid cure and return from isolation, for at least a portion of the players currently out. There has been some staggering of illnesses and absences, given that some players already were out for Notre Dame's second game, and therefore could be further along the recovery cycle.
Yet, of course, covid recoveries sometimes can take a while, and get followed by additional waiting times to confirm that the patient is recovered and no longer contagious.
Meanwhile, back in the polls, a number of other undefeated teams actually saw themselves moving downward to clear room for the Big Ten and Pac-12. Some teams, incuding teams that are playing and unbeaten, got shoved downward to provide space in the rankings that merely banks on the hoped-for, planned, eventual return of some of the elite Big Ten and Pac-12 names.
The Big Ten and Pac-12 aspirations do not mean a revival of Notre Dame's previously scheduled matchups with several teams from those conferences. In addition to the fact that those conferences are going conference-only for their own limited seasons, Notre Dame still will be limited to their own ACC-plus-one format, including Notre Dame's eligibility for the ACC conference title game.
It was about a century ago that the greatest all-around player to ever play the game, George Gipp, died while still a Notre Dame student, of a communicable respiratory illness.
Key Words: Notre Dame Football, College Football, College Football Rankings, ACC, Big Ten, Covid-19, Coronavirus, Pandemicl
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