Notre Dame Football: Irish vs. LSU in the Citrus Bowl Jan. 1

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and LSU Tigers will resume meet for the fourth time in the postseason in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla.

The game will kick off at 1 p.m. Eastern on Monday, Jan. 1 at Camping World Stadium and will be televised on ABC. These two storied programs last met in the 2014 Franklin American Music City Bowl, in which Notre Dame prevailed, 31-28.

The matchup was first confirmed by our own Brett McMurphy. (Yep, we’re claiming the former ESPN reporter — because he’s just as much a part of One Foot Down as he is the World Wide Leader.)

The Irish lead the all-time series, 6-5, while LSU leads, 2-1, in bowl matchups. The Tigers beat the Irish, 41-14, in the January 2007 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans and December 1997 Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La.

LSU finished this season 9-3, losing to the Alabama Crimson Tide by 14 points, by 30 to the Mississippi St. Bulldogs and in a close game against the Troy Trojans. Their opponents were a combined 59-53, representing the nation’s 49th toughest schedule.

The Tigers are built similarly to the Irish. They’re a little bit better passing team, a little worse rushing team (but still good) and a lot worse in the red zone. Their defense is statistically better than Notre Dame’s.

NCAA

(Here’s Notre Dame for comparison.)

NCAA

The Tigers and Irish had no common opponents.

The Tigers are 2-2 in the Citrus Bowl, having appeared there in 1979, 2004, 2009 and last year. The Irish have never played in this particular bowl, although they’ve played in Camping World Stadium before. The Irish played in the 2011 Camping World Bowl — then called the Champs Sports Bowl — losing 18-14 to the Florida State Seminoles.

Kudos to SB Nation’s own Jason Kirk for being the only bowl prognosticator to correctly slot the Irish and pick their opponent.