Welcome to one of the worst sports-days of the year.
College football concluded for the season last night and now we have to wait until the end of August to recap actual games and live and die with every first down, touchdown and coaches decision we agree with or hate.
With that however, the nation is putting out their “Way Too Early Top 25” polls for the 2020 season, before we even know who is staying in school and who all is entering the NFL Draft.
Yesterday we reacted to Brett McMurphy of Stadium who had Notre Dame ranked laughably low.
Today ESPN released their same list and the Irish were shown significantly more respect by writer Mark Schlabach who has Notre Dame at number 10.
Outlook: After suffering early losses at Georgia and Michigan, the Irish were never serious contenders for a CFP spot this past season. They still won 11 games and blasted Iowa State 33-9 in the Camping World Bowl. With quarterback Ian Book and all five starting offensive linemen returning, the Irish have a good nucleus coming back on offense. But they must replace leading receivers Claypool and Finke, leading rusher Jones and Kmet, who was a matchup nightmare. Northwestern graduate transfer Bennett Skowronek and incoming four-star receiver Jordan Johnson might be able to help right away. Brian Kelly is also looking for a new offensive coordinator after Chip Long was pushed out. It might be former quarterback Tom Rees, who called plays in the bowl game. The Irish will also have to replace all four starters in the secondary after Gilman decided to bypass his fourth season. Notre Dame plays Wisconsin at Lambeau Field and hosts Clemson, but it might be favored in its 10 other regular-season games.
That’s how Schlabach looks at Notre Dame in 2020.
For the record he has Clemson, Ohio State, Alabama and LSU as his top-four.
No. 1 Clemson and No. 14 Wisconsin are the only two Notre Dame opponents for 2020 who can be found in this particular top-25.