Where Notre Dame stands in bowl projections at midpoint of its season
Marcus Freeman’s messaging and motivational tactics for the second half of Notre Dame’s season won’t include postseason incentives or discussion of December possibilities. Not at the midpoint of the season, at least.
“We’re not talking about a bowl game,” Freeman said Monday. “We’re worried about this next opportunity we have on Saturday. The minute you start focusing on that, you’re going to lose the attention of our group and lose to a good opponent like UNLV. We can’t worry about six games from now. We have to worry about taking care of what’s right in front of us.”
That fits into Freeman’s pivot from a results-heavy focus on finishing at the beginning of the year to a process-oriented approach now. The postseason also isn’t the strong motivator it has been in recent years.
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Notre Dame hasn’t been in College Football Playoff contention since its 0-2 start. It lost 3 games in the regular season for the first time since 2017. Simply making a bowl would be a success at this point, but that’s not exactly a rallying point for a team that began the season ranked No. 5 and had playoff aspirations.
The Irish are still expected to claw to bowl eligibility, at least according to the midseason bowl projections. Here’s a roundup of their predicted postseason destinations and opponents.
Notre Dame in Week 8 bowl projections
The Athletic: Duke’s Mayo Bowl vs. Iowa (Dec. 30, Charlotte)
ESPN (Mark Schlabach): Sun Bowl vs. Oregon State (Dec. 30, El Paso)
ESPN (Kyle Bonagura): Pinstripe Bowl vs. Minnesota (Dec. 29, New York)
Action Network: Gator Bowl vs. Florida (Dec. 30, Jacksonville)
USA Today: Holiday Bowl vs. Utah (Dec. 28, San Diego)
Sporting News: Duke’s Mayo Bowl vs. Iowa
Yahoo Sports: Pinstripe Bowl vs. Minnesota
BlueandGold.com says
• Notre Dame 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 Holiday Bowl at 7-5 if the best available ACC team when the Holiday Bowl picks is 8-4.
• The Pinstripe and the Duke’s Mayo bowls were the popular picks this week. Those are lower on the ACC bowl tie-in pecking order. North Carolina, a 6-6 team last year, went to the latter. Virginia Tech was in the former with the same record. Notre Dame played in the Pinstripe Bowl in 2013 and has never played in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
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• Notre Dame is 13-8-3 vs. Iowa. The Irish have not played Hawkeyes since Oct. 5, 1968, a 51-28 Notre Dame win. They’re 4-0-1 against Minnesota, with all five meetings between 1925 and 1938.
• Notre Dame has never played in the Holiday Bowl and won its only prior game against Utah, 28-3 in 2010.
• The Irish last played in the Sun Bowl in 2010, beating Miami 33-17. They’re 0-2 all-time against Oregon State, with both matchups coming in bowl games. The most recent was a 38-21 loss in the 2004 Insight Bowl.
• The Gator Bowl has hosted Notre Dame three times, most recently in 2003. The Irish beat Florida 39-28 in the 1992 Sugar Bowl, which stands as their only meeting. The two teams are scheduled to play a home-and-home in 2031 and 2032.
