So which postseason game is the Notre Dame football team headed to? Well, at this point, we’re talking a third or fourth tier bowl. Not the words Notre Dame football fans want to hear, but it’s reality. Through the first five games, the Fighting Irish defense recorded numbers that warranted all those comparisons that you heard to the 2012 national runner-up team’s defense.
Since in the six games since, the competition got much better and the Irish defense has been a shell of what it once was. And that’s how we got here, Notre Dame football nation. Let’s look at the bowl projections:
–SB Nation has a match-up versus Penn State in the Pinstripe Bowl
This makes sense as it would appeal to the great following both schools have on the eastern seaboard. Bowl officials attended PSU’s road loss at Illinois this past weekend, so I’m guessing that this is Nittany Nation’s likely destination. The Irish just played in New Yankee Stadium last year, and this year’s ND squad is more or less on par with last year’s unit. Regis Philbin would love this- he’s a Notre Dame graduate who hails from around that neighborhood.
-Here’s what Syracuse.com has to say about the Notre Dame football destination:
Russell Athletic (Orlando): Notre Dame. For now, anyway. The Fighting Irish (7-4) are fading fast, and another loss in their regular-season finale at Southern California would send them plummeting in the pecking order. Notre Dame can’t hopscotch teams that have two or more victories than it does. At the moment, only Florida State and Georgia Tech can say that, though Clemson, Duke and Louisville could all join that list with victories coupled with an Irish loss next week.
-Jerry Palm of CBS Sports has ND in the Belk Bowl versus Tennessee
Ick! What the hell is a “Belk Bowl” And Charlotte is an awful, boring place where the most exciting thing in the entire city is a suburban mall and its chain restaurants. The most evil corporation on the planet, Bank of America, is headquartered there, and that’s all you need to know about the “Queen City.” Notre Dame football nation should be hoping for any location other than this.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net ,which is partners with Fox Sports. Read his feature stories in the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. Listen to him on KOZN 1620 The Zone. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks). His work has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including The Washington Post and ESPN 2