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The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and bowl games. The history goes back to the Grandaddy of them all, a retirement, and then a new awakening. It also includes some of the worst football the Irish have been involved with in the past 25 years.
So why do we want it in a horrible year? Why do we need it?
I don’t know exactly, but instead of getting overly philosophical or analytical, we want it. If we are to compare every part of the program to schools like Alabama and Ohio State, we have to know that if they were in our shoes right now, they would be fighting hard for that crap bowl game that awaits the Notre Dame Fighting Irish should they win their final two games.
With that in mind, we look at the realistic bowl game possibilities for the Irish should they end the season 6-6. These are based on SB Nation’s bowl projections:
- Music City Bowl VS Arkansas Razorbacks
- Belk Bowl VS South Carolina Gamecocks
- Sun Bowl VS Colorado Buffalos
- Pinstripe Bowl VS Maryland Terrapins
- Military Bowl VS Houston Cougars
- Quick Lane Bowl VS Northern Illinois Huskies
- Independence VS Ole Miss Rebels
- St. Petersburg Bowl VS Temple Owls
*Bowls in italic are pretty unlikely at 6-6
Nothing too drastic has changed for Notre Dame’s possible destinations, but the games in italic are now a bigger possibility than they were a week ago thanks to certain losses inside the ACC.
If you’re looking for some nostalgia of sorts, playing Colorado in a bowl game is an interesting option. Two other options include games against an SEC school. If we want to draw some parallels to 2014, it ended with a bowl win over LSU in the Music City and created some really nice momentum for the playoff push we had in 2015.
Make of this what you will.