Question: There are some people who, despite having the NCAA regulations laid out in front of them, think the Gator Bowl can simply skip over teams with winning records (7-5 or better), and pick a 6-6 Notre Dame team. Can you provide some assistance here? Thanks, DK
The annoyance with Notre Dame continues… Okay, we hit on Notre Dame and the Gator Bowl last week, when it came to a question of win differential. Now the league’s denizens are so confident of UConn’s slide-snapping potential this weekend in South Bend, and the foe Stanford will make two weeks from now, they’re wondering how much power a 6-6 Notre Dame team can have down in Jacksonville. The answer is: none.
The rule is clear and simple: A 6-6 team can only fill a conference’s bowl obligations after all teams with winning records have been selected. Now I know Notre Dame is not officially in the Big East conference. But in terms of getting a Gator Bowl spot, it is. And just to be sure, I asked a conference official. His answer was just as clear and just as simple: ”The Gator Bowl cannot select Notre Dame at 6-6.”
Aditi Kinkhabwala has written a regular column for SI.com and been published in Sports Illustrated.
If Notre Dame manages to get their 7th win and steal the Gator Bowl away from the Big East, it will make the lower-level Big East bowls more important.
It will also expose one of the worst decisions that ESPN has made in a long time.
Both the PapaJohns.com Bowl and the International Bowl are scheduled for January 2nd. The International Bowl is on ESPN2 at Noon and the PapaJohns.com Bowl is on ESPN at 1:00PM.
That’s right. Big East fans won’t be able to watch both games because they’re on at the same time. Since ESPN owns the PapaJohns.com Bowl, you would think that they would know better.
Brilliant scheduling, ESPN.