Motor City in Play for Notre Dame?
The buzz the last few days has been that Notre Dame is likely headed to the Texas Bowl to take on Rice, but how is this for another intirguing matchup – the Motor City Bowl against Ball State? Jason King on Yahoo! Sports mentioned that Notre Dame and NC State were the two most likely opponents for Ball State after BSU turned down a bid for the Humaitarian Bowl against Boise State.
Before I get to the potential for Notre Dame being in this game, how weak is it that Ball State declined the bid to play Boise State even if the game would have been a home game for Boise? We’ve heard all season long how “Ball State is the best team in Indiana” but yet they are scared to play a bowl against Boise State?
Anyway, this is a matchup I wouldn’t mind seeing at all. First off, for it to even be a possibility Ohio State needs to be selected for a BCS Bowl for a spot in the Motor City Bowl to open up. With the state of the economy, I have to think that Ohio State ends up in the BCS because they will bring a ton of fans.
I know everyone is going to freak out and say we’d get crushed by Ball State, but I think we’d have a reasonable chance to win this game. It would give us a chance to end the bowl losing streak over a ranked team and we’d have much more to gain in playing a potentially undefeated Ball State team than by playing Rice in the Texas Bowl. No matter who we play in bowl, we’ll get crushed in the media if we lose so why not hope for a chance against Ball State?
Notre Dame would also save some cash by going to the Motor City Bowl since it would be a pretty reasonable bus rid to Detroit as opposed to a flight to Houston. Both bowls payout $750,000; but the Motor City Bowl is on ESPN while the Texas Bowl is only on NFL Network.
Of course the Independence Bowl and it’s $1.1 mil payout is still available as well. Still, I’m pulling for a Motor City Bowl matchup with Ball State.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
If Boise State wants to play BSU so bad, let them travel to Muncie Indiana and see how many fans will travel that distance.
As for ND,my family has spent alot of time and money to see a very sad season in South Bend.
Does anyone really believe ND can win a bowl game? Stay home and save the $$
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Another Interesting article.
I agree Frankie, if we have to go bowling lets make it a real “practice” against a REAL RANKED Ball State team!
If we are looking for just a boring wimpy status win, might as well play Rice or Penn High School if we are not up for the BSU challenge.
Ball State allows a lot of points per game. The best team they beat was navy. ND would probably dominate 3 quarters and lose by 10.
Well, as Charlie stated:
“It’s practice for our younger players.”
It was unclear whether winning was part of the equation.
In the legendary winning days, a .500 record, you stayed home and it was endorsed by the university.
Today, sub par football is the new benchmark. So, flip a coin.
Would you want ND to play BSU in Boise either?
Now that CW has received ND’s golden affirmation to a lackluster .500 or less season (pending bowl outcome). It is now embarrassingly obvious, some ND fans are hopeful for a bowl opponent that allows for a fashionable win to end this torturing season. This just further demonstrates how the white flags have been thrown out on the field by many people.
I remember somebody did in fact succinctly state; “6-5 is not good enough” and “They didn’t hire me to go .500,” now a cleverly insignificant event. Unfortunately, the present football state of affairs coupled with a well justified emotional tsunami by ND fans speaks for it’s self. However, the administration clearly has chosen not to enforce a minimum standard that led to the demise of Bob Davie, George O’Leary and Tyrone Willingham.
Now that we have a strong commitment for Bob Davie Syndrome, I am not optimistic anytime soon we will have a top five contender. And if it happens sooner than later, a new concept, I am willing to admit I was wrong.
Gooooooooooooo! IRISH!
I am pulling to play Rice. I feel more “confident” vs. Rice than BSU. Sad but true.
When will we know who they pick? That sounds awesome.