Cotton Bowl, Gator Bowl Interested in the Irish

F.

They’re serious and that means we’re looking less and less likely to fall to the Sun Bowl and whatever mediocre opponent it draws.  That is, unless we somehow figure out a way to lose to Syracuse (not unpossible this year), and fall to 6-6 and the Sun Bowl for sure.  But, that’d be unacceptable to me and therefore it will not happen.  So yeah, 7-5 looks very likely (and who called that WAY back in the summer?  yep, that’s right boy-eeeeee!) and therefore the Cotton and Gator remain interested.

“At 7-5, they’re still Notre Dame. We’ve never taken a five-loss team in our history, so there would be a lot of discussion,” Catlett [the Gator Bowl dude] said. “But I think with a victory over Syracuse this week Notre Dame is still very high on our list.”

F. 

Why “F”? 

I don’t want to play a tougher bowl game than is absolutely necessary. 

Is that weak?  Probably.  But screw it.

I don’t care.  I want that freaking monkey off our collective backs.  I want the 9-game bowl losing streak to be GONE.  Just so no one can freaking bring it up anymore!  Sick of hearing about it, sick of people whining about it. 

“But you should expect more from Notre Dame Football!  Why are your expectations so low?????”  They’re not low forever.  They’re tempered THIS season, because I know the abyss from whence this team is crawling, and I know we’re not there yet.  Many (especially delusional ND fans that spend their time picking our replacements for Weis when HE’S NOT GOING ANYWHERE) think we should be winning NC’s now.  I’m not one of those unrealistic people.  This is realism folks, straight up the gut.

The main reason that ND is 0-fer in the last nine bowl games is that in recent history (~last 5-6 appearances) ND has been placed in super high profile bowls not because of the quality of the team, but because of the draw.  Now, I can’t complain about getting into the bowls.  They provide experience and exposure for the kids and the program, and dollars for our students.  But, in the end, we end up getting out-matched because of the team’s draw – ND fans are rabid and they come in droves to fill hotels and buy beers and merchandise and all that. I get it, but it screws us when it comes to getting ‘fair’ match-ups.  It’s extremely rare that ND ends up in a bowl game against a team that they simply look like they’ll beat up on paper.  OSU and LSU in the last 2 BCS games are prime examples of this.  On paper, we were way out-matched.  On the scoreboard, this proved to be the case.

This year, I want to be under-matched.  I want to play the lowest level of acceptable competition and get a W.  Again, I admit this is a “weak” stance, but I’d prefer to just get that streak ended.  It’s not noble, it’s not inspiring, but it’s incredibly pragmatic.  And in a year where we’ve been up and down and all over, where we’ll end up 6-6 worst and 8-4 best (with a miracle) and are likely 7-5, I am fine with a nice, acceptable W from the Sun Bowl over a loss in some ‘better’ bowl game.  I don’t need the streak to end in a fancy BCS or New Year’s Day bowl. I don’t need it to end in dramatic fashion for a NC in 2 years.  It can end in a bowl held in March for all I care, I just want it to end.  MAC competition?  Awesome.  MWC?  Fine with me.  But the Cotton and Gator will bring stiffer competition, and with the ups and downs of the Irish offense this year, you never know what you’re gonna get (ain’t that right Forrest?).

Yep!

And that makes a higher tier game, even against a weak ACC opponent in the Gator, dangerous.  Let’s just take the Sun, get up against a mediocre opponent (which is a perfect matchup for a sometimes-great-looking sometimes-sad-looking ND team which = mediocre), and get a notch in the W column for the first time in 10 bowl games, eh?   Who’s with me?

Anyone?

cricket.