Somebody call up Gnarls Barkley, or maybe the Pussycat Dolls and get them booked for the Fiesta Bowl halftime show because it’s 2006 all over again.
Notre Dame football will once again face Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. Maybe we can get in the ’06 spirit by using MySpace to discuss how important the Ohio electoral races will be in the midterms.
This New Year’s Six Bowl clash brings to mind the famous “Laura Quinn Game” and her half Buckeyes, half Fighting Irish jersey. As the sister of then ND quarterback Brady Quinn and then girlfriend now wife of former Ohio St. linebacker A.J. Hawk, her ensemble was indeed appropriate
It is only in extremely rare, unique circumstances such as Quinn’s that this 1/2 and 1/2 fandom display is kosher. Otherwise, you must PICK A SIDE! Moving on, here is the basic game information Notre Dame football fans.
TV: ESPN January 1st, 1 pm EST 2016, in 63,400-seat University of Phoenix Stadium (home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals) in Glendale, Arizona. It’s the 45th edition of the Fiesta Bowl.
SPREAD: #7 (11-1) Ohio State football -6 1/2 over #8 (10-2) Notre Dame football
Commentators: Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman, Todd McShay will call the game on ESPN, with Jerry Olaya and Robert Abramonwitz on ESPN Deportes and Adam Amin, Kelly Stouffer, and Olivia Harlan on ESPN Radio
With all the talent on both of these rosters, you could conceivably be watching seven or eight potential first-rounders in this game on New Year’s Day. BY FAR this match up has the most 2016 NFL Draft representation of any single bowl game.
Ohio State DL Joey Bosa agrees:
“You look everywhere on both teams, there’s probably no two teams with more talent and NFL prospects,” he said.
We’ve chronicled all those players in detail at this link.
College football playoff obstructionists held this idea for many years- “a playoff would make the other bowls less interesting/meaningful/worthwhile.”
We’ll see about that. ESPN is certainly doing their part with an obnoxious marketing strategy for the final four.
ESPN's favorite coach is
— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) December 28, 2015
Yes, Bristol has really ramped up the over-bearing self-promotion and cross-promotion with the college football playoff (Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl) commercials. The WWL never shuts up about the playoff bowls. Once in a great while they hype up the other games in the New Year’s Six. They almost never mention any other bowl games. That’s a shame because Ohio State football fans are like fans of any other team- they’re more interested in hearing about their own team than they are in persistently hearing about the final four teams.
So I guess this Fiesta Bowl is now a bit “under the radar” so to speak. Hey look, this is the only bowl game where both sides have a Touchdown Jesus
Also, you’ll want to check out our game preview from the Ohio State Buckeyes side of things here at this link.
Both teams here had national title aspirations. Both came up a victory short in reaching the playoff. Will the Fighting Irish and Buckeyes still be as amped up for this when they hit the Glendale gridiron?
For the kids playing their final football game at a big time level, no question. What about all the players with high NFL Draft stock though? What’s their motor going to be at when you consider the injury risk at this the twilight of their college careers?
Well, ND has a special reason to be motivated in this game. This Q&A from today’s Media session says it all:
Q: Notre Dame football hasn’t won a major bowl game in two decades. What do you think it would mean?
DeSHONE KIZER: I think it’s understood this team is different anyway. The way we’ve gone about this season isn’t like many seasons in the past. Obviously there’s been a lot of negative that’s come out of this in the sense we’ve had quite a few guys down, we’ve faced a lot of adversity.
That kind of changes the mindset of how this team is, how we’re different than team 126 in the previous years. That stat has come up in previous months. We kind of understand we’re a different team which has had different outcomes throughout the year. We’re going to try to make sure that stat can be squashed away, leave a bigger footprint on this university and on this program than when we came in.
Thus, Kizer addressed the Fighting Irish motivation. On the Ohio State side, Darron Lee gave the best answer.
“I know the easy thought happens to be, They’re not in the national championship, so they’re not going to play as hard. That’s not the case at all. I think it’s actually kind of funny because it’s not the case.”
We’ll find out Friday how much of this is just press conference boilerplate, and how much of it is real.
Prediction: Ohio State 34, Notre Dame 22
Sorry, Notre Dame football fans, the New Year’s bowl drought will continue as all the injuries this Fighting Irish team has suffered throughout this season continue to take their toll. Buckeyes will have big day versus the nation’s 62nd ranked run defense.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and sometimes writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. The website is also featured on News Now.
Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye. He also appears regularly on numerous talk shows all across the country. Catch him Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 The Zone.
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