BRISTOL, Conn. “”mdash; One day after a lopsided loss to
top-ranked Southern California, Notre Dame accepted a bid to the
Insight Bowl, which will be played Dec. 28 in Tempe, Arizona.
Notre Dame will face a team from the Pac-10 Conference, which
could be UCLA.
The Bruins are expected to accept an invitation to one of three
bowls ““ the Sun Bowl, Insight Bowl or Las Vegas Bowl.
The Fighting Irish, who were routed by the Trojans 41-10,
finished an up-and-down regular season 6-5 after losing their final
two games.
They have lost six straight bowl games since a 24-21 victory
over Texas A&M in the 1993 Cotton Bowl.
Four other teams accepted bowl invitations Sunday as Minnesota
(6-5) is headed to the Music City Bowl, UAB (7-4) the Hawaii Bowl,
Southern Mississippi (6-4) the New Orleans Bowl and Memphis (8-3)
the GMAC Bowl.
Minnesota, which will face a team from the Southeastern
Conference in the Dec. 31 game in Nashville, Tennessee, struggled
down the stretch, losing five of its last six games after a 5-0
start. The Gophers will appear in a third straight bowl game for
the first time in school history.
In 2002, the Golden Gophers defeated Arkansas, 29-14, in the
Music City Bowl, then edged Oregon, 31-30, in last year’s Sun
Bowl.
UAB, which will play in Honolulu on Dec. 24, has only fielded a
team on the Division I-A level since 1991. The Blazers were bowl
eligible on two previous occasions ““ 2000 and 2001.
Southern Miss will kick off the bowl season in New Orleans on
Dec.14 against North Texas, the winner of the Sun Belt
Conference.
The Golden Eagles, who conclude their regular season Saturday
against California in a game postponed from September, will be
making their seventh bowl appearance in eight years.
Memphis, which will take on an opponent from the Mid-American
Conference on Dec. 22 in Mobile, Ala., will be making consecutive
bowl appearances for the first time.
Compiled from staff and wire reports.