Notre Dame's Final Bowl Projections Are A Bit Murky

If you look through the majority of the final bowl projections it would seem Notre Dame's bowl destination is clear. The vast majority of bowl projections have Notre Dame slated to play in the ReliaQuest Bowl, but there are questions if this will end up being the case after Alabama knocked off Georgia in the SEC title game.

Kyle Bonagura of ESPN, Bill Bender at Sporting News, Fox Sports, 247Sports and Jerry Palm at CBS Sports all projection this matchup. This would mean current Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman would square off against the man he replaced, Brian Kelly.

There would certainly be plenty of intrigue in this matchup, which would be filled with storylines. Both teams would be looking to win a 10th game this season, which only adds to the importance for both teams in the bowl season.

Not everyone believes this matchup is going to happen. Brett McMurphy of the Action Network and the staff at The Athletic believe the SEC title game shook things up to the point that Notre Dame won't play in the ReliaQuest Bowl at all.

Previous bowl projections had Georgia winning the SEC title game and earning a playoff spot, but with the Bulldogs losing things could be quite different.

McMurphy and The Athletic believe Georgia will now get the SEC spot in the Orange Bowl, with them assuming that Georgia remains ranked ahead of Ohio State. The Orange Bowl pits the ACC Champ - or the highest ranked ACC. team not in the playoff - against a SEC or Big Ten opponent. 

Earlier projections had Ohio State in this game, but with Georgia likely out of the playoff but ahead of Ohio State, that knocks the Buckeyes out of the Orange Bowl. According to The Athletic, that would then put a Big Ten opponent against a SEC opponent in the ReliaQuest Bowl.

The Athletic believes this means Notre Dame gets placed into the Holiday Bowl where it would face Oregon State. Notre Dame and the Beavers have faced each other in bowl games before, but not since the 2004 season. Notre Dame has never played in the Holiday Bowl. 

Instead of Notre Dame in the Pop Tarts Bowl, The Athletic has the bowl getting NC State, a team the Irish beat 45-24 back in September.

Mark Schlabach of ESPN still has Notre Dame slated for the Pop Tarts Bowl, where it would take on Kansas State. Notre Dame has never faced Kansas State on the gridiron.

This certainly adds a great deal of intrigue into today's bowl announcements.