Current:Home > NewsSelection Sunday's ACC madness peaked with a hat drawing that sent Notre Dame to Sun Bowl-LoTradeCoin
Selection Sunday's ACC madness peaked with a hat drawing that sent Notre Dame to Sun Bowl
View Date:2024-12-23 16:07:19
How are college football bowl selections and matchups decided?
For many schools and bowls, it's based on conference tie-ins. A bowl-eligible SEC school, for example, would play in one of the many bowls with ties to the SEC. Each bowl would get to select one of the bowl-eligible schools based on their position in the conference tie-in pecking order. The higher the bowl in the order, the better the pool of teams to choose from.
However, in the case of one school, the selection process was a bit more random.
According to a report from The Athletic, Notre Dame's spot in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl, where the Fighting Irish will take on Oregon State, was decided by drawing bowl names out of a hat. Literally.
College football bowl season:Bowl game schedule for the 2023-24 season: A full guide for fans.
How Florida State's College Football Playoff snub affected Notre Dame
One of the major factors for the unorthodox selection method was the College Football Playoff (CFP) committee's decision to leave Florida State out of the top four in the final rankings.
Going into college football's conference championship weekend, the ACC's bowl scenarios seemed all but set. Louisville would be the conference's contractual spot holder in the Capital One Orange Bowl with a win or loss to Florida State in the ACC Championship.
A win meant they'd be in as the top team in the conference, a loss meant the Seminoles would likely get a spot in the CFP semifinal, leaving Louisville as the top ACC team outside of the CFP.
Instead, Florida State won the ACC but did not get selected as a top four team in the CFP committee's final rankings in a controversial move that put Alabama in the semifinal instead. That put the Seminoles, not the Cardinals, as a lock for a spot in the Orange Bowl.
That surprising swap alone created a domino effect down the rest of the pecking order of bowls with ACC tie-ins.
Fallout from final CFP rankings:Nick Saban's phone flooded with anonymous angry calls after Alabama coach's number leaked
Notre Dame bowl selection: which bowls were in the hat?
The ACC bowls in the top tier of the conference's tie-in games – the DIRECTV Holiday Bowl, TaxSlayer Gator Bowl and Pop-Tarts Bowl – made their selections, two of which had to be Louisville and N.C. State, according to the report. The Athletic also reported that one bowl official said that they were told "point blank" that Notre Dame was not an option, so the Fighting Irish remained available for the next tier of bowls.
When three bowls in the ACC's second tier of tie-ins got the opportunity to pick Notre Dame, all three had the Fighting Irish as their top choice. So, according to the conference's rules, the three bowls put their names in a hat with the ACC's attorney drawing out the winner.
Those three bowls were the Sun Bowl, the Duke's Mayo Bowl and the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl.
When the ACC announced the Sun Bowl won the drawing, its executive director, Bernie Olivas, made the announcement at the bowl's selection party to a cheering crowd. The news was so unexpected that staff didn't have a Notre Dame helmet on hand, according to KTSM news.
Within a day, tickets were sold out.
Notre Dame previously played in the Sun Bowl in 2010, when the Fighting Irish defeated the Miami (FL) Hurricanes, 33-17.
When is the Sun Bowl? Notre Dame vs. Oregon State date, time and location
When: Friday, Dec. 29 at 2 p.m. ET
Where: Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas
veryGood! (599)
Related
- Texas now tops in SEC? Miami in trouble? Five overreactions to college football Week 11
- Georgia, Ohio State start at top of college football's NCAA Re-Rank 1-134
- Heat dome moves into Texas with record highs expected
- Florida quietly removes LGBTQ+ travel info from state website
- Gossip Girl Actress Chanel Banks Reported Missing After Vanishing in California
- How do I take workplace criticism as constructive and not a personal attack? Ask HR
- Mall guard tells jurors he would not have joined confrontation that led to man’s death
- Here's What Jennifer Lopez Is Seeking in Ben Affleck Breakup
- Demure? Brain rot? Oxford announces shortlist for 2024 Word of the Year: Cast your vote
- RHODubai's Sara Al Madani Reveals Ex Maid Allegedly Plotted With Kidnappers to Take Her Son for Ransom
Ranking
- Chipotle unveils cilantro-scented soap, 'water' cup candles in humorous holiday gift line
- Kentucky’s new education chief promotes ambitious agenda
- Love Island USA’s Kenny Rodriguez Shares What Life Outside the Villa Has Been Like With JaNa Craig
- PHOTO COLLECTION: Election-2024- Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
- Video ‘bares’ all: Insurers say bear that damaged luxury cars was actually a person in a costume
- Michael Strahan's Daughter Isabella Strahan Takes Major Life Step After Finishing Cancer Treatments
- American Airlines extends suspension of flights to Israel through late March amid war in Gaza
- Judge rejects GOP call to give Wisconsin youth prison counselors more freedom to punish inmates
Recommendation
-
Everard Burke Introduce
-
Kentucky’s new education chief promotes ambitious agenda
-
Why Everyone Is Obsessed With the Momcozy Nursing & Pumping Bra (Even if They’re Not a Mom)
-
Democrats turn their roll call into a dance party with celebrities, state-specific songs and Lil Jon
-
Is Kyle Richards Finally Ready to File for Divorce From Mauricio Umansky? She Says...
-
Bit Treasury Exchange: The use of blockchain in the financial, public and other sectors
-
Columbus Crew vs. Philadelphia Union Leagues Cup semifinal: How to watch Wednesday's game
-
ESPN tabs Mike Greenberg as Sam Ponder's replacement for 'NFL Sunday Countdown' show