Notre Dame Football’s Bowl Options Dwindle
Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Two weeks ago, everything was on the table for Notre Dame. Now, after suffering two consecutive losses, Notre Dame’s bowl options are in flux. The big six bowls are no longer an option for the Irish, who at 7-3 on the year have some intriguing Bowl destinations.
This type of situation is one of the reason why athletics director Jack Swarbrick made the allegiance with the ACC. Now, the Irish have options as far as where they will play their last game.
As part of their agreement with the ACC, Notre Dame must be within one game of the team eligible for that particular slot. Currently, Florida State is part of the four-team playoff which will bump up each ACC team as the Orange Bowl needs to fill its ACC spot.
The highest record the Irish can reach is 9-3 if they defeat Louisville and USC. This would put them in range to be taken in either the Russell Athletic or Capital One Bowls. However, if they drop one of those games and Georgia Tech or Duke reach 10-wins, the Irish will be shut out since they won’t be within a game.
The most likely bowl destination for the Irish is the Belk Bowl in Charlotte, NC on Dec. 30. This will pit the Irish against a mid-level Southeastern Conference (SEC) team which should intrigue Notre Dame fans and provide a solid barometer heading into the 2015 season.
Other potential options include the Gator Bowl, the Sun Bowl or the Music City Bowl. The Gator and Music City Bowls would also pit the Irish against a SEC foe, while Sun would return the Irish to El Paso to take on a Pac-12 team. The other option would be the Pinstripe Bowl, but that is highly unlikely after Notre Dame played Rutgers last year in New York.
In looking at all the options, I’m going with the most likely scenario in Charlotte. The SEC gets to assign the bowl games in their lower tier teams, so at this point I will go with LSU who is currently 7-4. This would provide a great opportunity to prove the Irish belong with a premiere program.
Prediction: Belk Bowl — Notre Dame vs. LSU
Patrick Leiva is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter.
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