Dec 30, 2014; Nashville, TN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish wide receiver C.J. Prosise (20) carries the ball in the first quarter against the Louisiana State Tigers at LP Field. Notre Dame won 31-28. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

At 2-4, the Irish are long shots to make a bowl game. Can they make it to six wins to become bowl eligible? And if so, should they even go to a bowl?

Stanford, Miami and Virginia Tech are all tough opponents, but they’re also home games. I watched Stanford closely last Saturday. Christian McCaffrey is banged up. The offense is struggling. The defense doesn’t appear great either. Washington State largely dominated the Cardinal in Palo Alto.

I think the turnaround begins Saturday in South Bend. Then you get Miami after a bye week. There’s added time to tweak the scheme, work out any injury issues and recharge. Miami will have a little extra time off too; they play Virginia Tech on Oct. 20. After playing Florida State, UNC and the Hokies, we’ll know more about the ‘Canes as that games gets closer.

I don’t see Notre Dame losing to Navy or Army. Yes, they are both much better. Yes, Navy just beat Houston. I just don’t see it. Notre Dame has too much offense right now and they have done a good job defending against the option for a number of years.

That leaves us with Virginia Tech at home on Senior Day and the road trip to USC. Those will be easier to forecast after we get through the next two. With everything we know now, I’m saying Notre Dame finds their way to the postseason.

SHOULD A 6-6 IRISH TEAM GO TO A BOWL?

Notre Dame #2 Chris Brown completes a catch in the third quarter during the annual Pinstripe Bowl football game at Yankee Stadium on December 28, 2013. (Paul J. Bereswill)

Many long-time fans who do not like the bowl system or the “minor” bowls might argue that the bowl game is irrelevant if the Irish aren’t in the playoff or playing on New Year’s Day. There is some precedent for this. In Lou Holtz’s final season, the 8-3 Irish opted not to play in a bowl game. They were roundly criticized for doing this. To some, it smacked of the very arrogance that has caused some to hate the Irish.

I would argue that going to a bowl every year is a must for a number of reasons.

First, accepting a bowl invitation allows you 15 extra days of practice. Given the struggles this team has had, and the youth now playing on defense, any extra practice is welcome. Second, while I don’t subscribe to paying players at the NCAA level, I do support the idea that the bowl game is a reward for the players. It is one of the perks they get. Whether it is playing in a warm climate (not likely this year) or grabbing some bowl game swag, it is a nice reward for the hours and hours they put in.

Finally, it helps with recruiting.  Some may argue, how does a 6-6 bowl appearance help with recruiting? I would add the same way that a 4-8 no bowl season hurts recruiting? So with that said, can the Irish actually find a way into the bowl season.

SHADES OF KELLY’S FIRST YEAR

At 2-4, no major outlets have them in heading into Week 7. But, if you recall, the 2010 Irish looked finished at 4-5 after a disastrous home loss to Tulsa and Utah and USC remaining. They ended the season on a 4-0 run and crushed Miami in the Sun Bowl.

I think the end of this season looks like 2010. Kelly seems extremely determined to fix this thing. He better….or the buzzards will likely be circling this offseason.

The post Debating a Bowl Game for Staggering Irish appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Before we get into the numbers, let me identify my sources. To get the records and bowl appearances and scores, I used the archives provided by und.com. To get the recruiting class rank, abbreviated on the table below as “recruit class rank,” I used the rankings as compiled by Rivals at Yahoo! Sports. Here’s what that all looks like in a table:

So, the numbers show that of the ten bowls, the next year’s recruiting class improved six times, declined three times, and was unchanged once. I am not suggesting a cause-and-effect relationship, but maybe there’s something to this notion of momentum that has come to clothe bowl season. In this era of tweets and instagrams, it is likely possible for someone far more savvy than yours truly to cull through the timelines and pages of recruiting classes to come to see if there’s some direct influence.

We know, though, that for the players on the roster, going bowling is a highly-anticipated reward in an otherwise heavily-policed world of NCAA rules compliance. You know they get paid to go, right? Like cash stipends and swag? Think “your” Irish are, or should be, above “all that”? They’re not. And shame on you for framing the issue that way. The Irish were wild about the package put together by the 2013 Pinstripe Bowl. To recruits, and dare I suggest that to recruits volunteering for the rigors of the Notre Dame student-athlete experience the effect is likely enhanced, the probability of playing in premier bowls in premier locations is likely added cherries, or PlayBox 7’s, on the cake. For an idea of what the kids got for Christmas, as it were, this year, check out this article here.

Notre Dame’s academics will continue to challenge the coaching staff on the recruiting trail. We just “lost” Prentice McKinney, a highly-touted safety and member of our 2015 recruiting class, to North Carolina as it became more and more apparent that he just wouldn’t be able to make the whole “student” thing work at ND. On the heels of season in many ways “lost” to academic suspensions that came on the heels of a season, 2013, that saw Everett Golson kicked out for academic reasons, the ability of the Irish to play in bowls year after year, I feel, is critical to our recruiting efforts.

The post So Why Go? The Importance of Going Bowling appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.