Report: Notre Dame to Play in Pinstripe Bowl
According to CBS report, Notre Dame has reportedly accepted a bid to play in the Pinstripe Bowl later this month – a somewhat surprising announcement given that multiple reports indicated the Irish would be playing in a warm weather destination this bowl season.
CBS is reporting, however, that Notre Dame has accepted a bid for the Pinstripe Bowl and informed other bowl committees that the University won’t negotiate with any other bowls.
The Pinstripe Bowl is played on December 28 in New York and contractually places the #7 Big 12 school against the #4 American Athletic Conference, but this year the Big 12 only has 6 bowl eligible teams which opened up spot for Notre Dame. At 8-4 this season the Irish are not BCS eligible and since they are a year away from being able to take advantage of the ACC bowl tie-ins, Notre Dame’s bowl options were limited to bowls with conference affiliations that could not be fulfilled.
CBS is currently projecting Notre Dame’s opponent to be Houston although that is not yet finalized.
For the 8-4 Irish, the Pinstripe Bowl is a fairly ideal destination for them considering the lack of options facing them since it will place them in a unique venue where they will have no problem whatsoever having a home field advantage in given the large contingent of Notre Dame fans in the greater New York City area.
Notre Dame is no stranger to playing football in Yankee Stadium either. Outside of some of the legendary battles the Irish had in the old Yankee Stadium against the academies, Notre Dame played in the new Yankee Stadium just three years ago during Brian Kelly’s first season in South Bend as part of the Shamrock Series. Notre Dame, led by a freshman Tommy Rees, made short order of Army that day and will be looking to do the same again this year to end the 2013 season on a high note.
It had been reported that Notre Dame preferred to play in a bowl that would not have ACC ties in the future and was in a warmer climate. The Pinstripe Bowl will feature opponents from the ACC and Big Ten starting next season when Notre Dame is able to take advantage of the ACC’s lineup of bowls. It appears as though neither of those will be the case.
With the Pinstripe Bowl taking place on December 28, it is unclear how that will impact how much, if any practice time Everett Golson is able to get in with the team once he is officially readmitted. Golson would be eligible to take place in team activities starting December 20 but will not be able to travel with the team or take part in any bowl game activities.
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
Though not real thrilled about the bowl or the opponent, it was not surprising. A 6-6 opponent I am having an expectation that ND better dominant and win the damn no nothing bowl against Rutgers. Anything below that will just reinforce & confirm all of the criticism that has been posted about this year’s team. Unfortunately, I could very well see us struggle against this “scrappy team” or worse, lose to them. I am glad some extra practice time is gained but like I said, not the greatest bowl one could go to no matter how it may be spinned.
Go Irish
Losing to Rutgers would be bad, but if we lost to Pitt anything is possible. They have decent backs, the
Goodwin kid has some speed. Have a tight end they target a lot, and a tall receiver who will prob go pro, although he hasn’t had a great year. Their secondary is young, decimated by injuries, they play freshmen. Their d line is undersized, and we should be able to run. If ND loses to Rutgers Kelly would have to answer a lot of questions.
If we play Rutgers, they are very small up front. Have to run, and we all know Kelly has shown he has a hard time being happy getting 5 yards a clip.
An embarrassing bowl vs an opponent ND should massacre but will struggle with. The game starts at noon. Hopefully Pam Ward gets to do the play by play
It’s the Big Apple Bowl. Well, no real big surprise. They need to win this bowl game for so many different reasons.
Play like a champion
I like the date, giving them more practices, especially for those returning
next season, and not interfering with finals, which, at still albeit ever-shrinking few D1
top 50 schools, still matters.
Too bad they couldn’t secure a warmer weather venue.
BTW, has anyone heard the status of Chris Watt; has he played his last game with ND ?
Also, I know Shumate was suspended for being tardy, but I also read he was re-injured
the week leading up to Stanford. Any other information regarding who’s healthy enough
to play by then and who isn’t, other than those who were already shelved even before Stanford?