Loss to USC has little impact on Notre Dame in post-regular season bowl projections
Notre Dame’s loss to USC in the regular-season finale didn’t change the Irish’s bowl outlook. At least according to the latest postseason projections.
The Irish were unanimously pegged last week to one of the ACC’s top three non-New Year’s Six Bowls, the Gator (Dec. 30 in Jacksonville, Fla.), Cheez-It (Dec. 29 in Orlando, Fla.) and Holiday (Dec. 28 in San Diego). A 38-27 loss Saturday that dropped Notre Dame to 8-4 kept it in the same projected landing spot. A win likely wouldn’t have altered the destination either.
Here’s where and against whom the latest prognostications have the Irish playing.
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• ESPN (Kyle Bonagura): Gator vs. South Carolina (Last week: Gator vs. Florida)
• ESPN (Mark Schlabach): Gator vs. South Carolina (Last week: Holiday vs. Utah)
• Action Network: Gator vs. Mississippi State (Last week: Gator vs. South Carolina)
• USA Today: Holiday vs. Oregon (Last week: Holiday vs. UCLA)
• CBS Sports: Gator vs. Mississippi State (Last week: Gator vs. Arkansas)
• Athlon Sports: Gator vs. South Carolina (Last week: Gator vs. Kentucky)
• Sporting News: Gator vs. Ole Miss (Last week: Gator vs. Kentucky)
BlueandGold.com says
• As always, a reminder on how Notre Dame’s bowl options work: It is eligible for any non-New Year’s Six ACC bowl if its record is within one game of the team that would otherwise be picked in that game. For example, Notre Dame could go to the Cheez-It Bowl at 8-4 if the best available ACC team when the Cheez-It Bowl picks is 9-3.
• The ACC also gets a spot in the ReliaQuest Bowl (Jan. 2 in Tampa, F;a.) if a Big Ten team is selected to play in the Orange Bowl. Right now, that’s unlikely. Tennessee is the widely projected Orange Bowl participant vs. the ACC champion.
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• Notre Dame has played in the Gator Bowl three times, most recently in 2003 when it lost to North Carolina State. The Irish also beat Penn State in the 1976 Gator Bowl (after the 1976 season) and lost to Georgia Tech in 1999 (after the 1998 season).
• Notre Dame has never played Mississippi State. It has played South Carolina four times, all between 1976 and 1984. The Irish are 3-1 against the Gamecocks. They’re 1-1 against Ole Miss, with the most recent meeting a 37-14 win in 1985.
• The Holiday Bowl has never selected Notre Dame and only became an ACC tie-in last year. The Irish have played Oregon twice, going 1-0-1. Their most recent game versus the Ducks was a 13-13 tie in 1982.
