Notre Dame Projected To Play In The Orange Bowl

The Irish are expected to take on Pittsburgh from the ACC

Notre Dame enters its halfway point of the season ranked No. 8 in the national polls and poised for a New Years Six bowl game. According to Sports Illustrated college football writer Michael Shapiro, Notre Dame is projected to play Pittsburgh in the Orange Bowl.

The Orange Bowl pits the top ACC team against a Big Ten opponent, a SEC opponent or Notre Dame. With Clemson projected to be a College Football Playoff contestant, Shapiro went with Pittsburgh as the next best ACC team.

Pittsburgh began the season 1-2 with losses to Virginia (30-14) and Penn State (17-10), but it has won three straight games and now sits at 4-2. The Panthers own a home win over UCF (35-34) and a road win at Duke (33-30), and they head to Syracuse for a Friday night matchup.

The Panthers are currently 1-1 in the ACC Coastal Division and trail Virginia, Duke and North Carolina by a half-game.

Last week, Shapiro had the Irish projected to play Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl, but the Deacons lost to Louisville (62-59) on Saturday night.

Shapiro’s current Playoff projection is Alabama against Ohio State in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl and Clemson against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach still has the Irish taking on Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl while Kyle Bonagura has Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl against Boise State.

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