Bowl Projections: Fighting for the Irish

"Win one for the Gipper?" How about "Win one to keep the Gipper out of the Gator Bowl?"

When Stanford plays host to Notre Dame (6-5) Saturday, the entire Big East Conference will be pulling for the Cardinal to defeat the Fighting Irish.

The reason is simple: an Irish victory would likely earn Notre Dame an invitation to the Gator Bowl, taking one of the Big East's bowl berths.

The Gator Bowl has the option of selecting a Big East team or Notre Dame, as long as the Irish have at least seven wins. There has been an understanding between the Big East and the Gator Bowl that it would only take Notre Dame if the Irish is within two wins of an available Big East team. However, there is nothing in writing and since the Gator Bowl and Big East are parting ways after this season, the Gator Bowl has no reason to honor that agreement.

While the Big East will be pulling for Stanford, Boise State will have an added interest in Saturday's Bedlam Series between Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. An Oklahoma State victory would send the Cowboys to the Fiesta Bowl. If Oklahoma wins, however, Boise State's at-large BCS bowl chances would improve greatly.

The results of Notre Dame-Stanford and Oklahoma State-Oklahoma will have a trickle down effect to several bowls. Ironically, Boise State is pulling for the same team that the Broncos beat in the classic 2007 Fiesta Bowl.

"It's funny how it's gone full-circle," former Boise State offensive lineman Pete Cavender told SI.com. "We find it ironic that our BCS hopes all lie in the hands of Oklahoma and Bob Stoops. ... We'll all be wearing crimson and white on Saturday."

The Big East will be pulling for the cardinal and white in Stanford, although Gator Bowl president Rick Catlett told the Jacksonville-Times Union that no decision has been reached on Notre Dame.

"To stay in the debate, they've got to win," Cathlett said. "And even then, there are no guarantees."

Speaking of no guarantees – here is a look at FanHouse's best guess at how the 2009 bowl invitations might shake out. Conference tie-ins are listed for each game.

The fine print: In the case of the BCS bowls, those bowls could lose their tie-in teams to the title game. When that occurs, that bowl chooses any BCS-eligible team to replace the team it lost, but is not required to select one from the same conference as its tie-in. Also a team that finishes 6-6 is eligible to fill a bowl contract for its own conference, but only if no team from its conference with a better record is available. Also, a 6-6 team may fill a bowl opening outside its conference, but only when no other Division I-A team with seven or more wins is available.

2009-2010 College Football Bowl Schedule
Game	Date	Site	Matchup	Projection
New Mexico	Dec. 19 2:30PM	Albuquerque, N.M.	MWC vs. WAC	Fresno State vs. Wyoming
St. Petersburg	Dec. 19 8PM	St. Petersburg, Fla.	Big East vs. C-USA	UConn vs. East Carolina
R&L Carriers New Orleans	Dec. 20 8PM	New Orleans, La.	C-USA vs. Sun Belt	UCF vs. Troy
MAACO Las Vegas	Dec. 22 8PM	Las Vegas	MWC vs. Pac-10	Utah vs. Oregon State
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia	Dec. 23 8PM	San Diego	MWC vs. Pac-10	BYU vs. Arizona
Sheraton Hawaii	Dec. 24 8PM	Honolulu	C-USA vs. WAC	Nevada vs. SMU
Emerald	Dec. 26 8:30PM	San Francisco	ACC vs. Pac-10	Stanford vs. Boston College
Meineke Car Care	Dec. 26 4PM	Charlotte, N.C.	ACC vs. Big East	Rutgers vs. Florida State
Little Ceasars Pizza	Dec. 26 5PM	Detroit, Mich.	Big Ten vs. MAC	Central Michigan vs. Kansas
Gaylord Hotels Music City	Dec. 27 8PM	Nashville, Tenn.	ACC vs. SEC	Miami vs. Kentucky
Independence	Dec. 28 5PM	Shreveport, La.	Big 12 vs. SEC	South Carolina vs. Northern Illinois
Champs Sports	Dec. 29 8PM	Orlando, Fla.	ACC vs. Big Ten	North Carolina vs. Northwestern
EagleBank	Dec. 29 4:30PM	Washington	ACC vs. Navy	Middle Tennessee vs. Marshall
Pacific Life Holiday	Dec. 30 8PM	San Diego	Big 12 vs. Pac-10	USC vs. Nebraska
Roady's Humanitarian	Dec. 30 4:30PM	Boise, Idaho	MWC vs. WAC	Boise State vs. UCLA
Texas	Dec. 31 3:30PM	Houston	Big 12 vs. U.S. Naval Academy	Iowa State vs. Navy
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces	Dec. 31 Noon	Fort Worth, Texas	MWC vs. C-USA	Air Force vs. Southern Miss
Brut Sun	Dec. 31 Noon	El Paso, TX	Pac-10 vs. Big East/Big 12	California vs. Oklahoma
Insight	Dec. 31 5:30PM	Tempe, Ariz.	Big Ten vs. Big 12	Texas A&M vs. Minnesota
Chick-fil-A	Dec. 31 7:30PM	Atlanta	ACC vs. SEC	Tennessee vs. Clemson
Outback	Jan. 1 11AM	Tampa, Fla.	Big Ten vs. SEC	Wisconsin vs. LSU
Capital One	Jan. 1 1PM	Orlando, Fla.	Big Ten vs. SEC	Ole Miss vs. Iowa
Konica Minolta Gator	Jan. 1 1PM	Jacksonville, Fla.	ACC vs. Big East/Big 12/Notre Dame	Virginia Tech vs. Pittsburgh
Rose presented by Citi	Jan. 1 5 PM	Pasadena, Calif.	BCS (Big Ten) vs. BCS (Pac-10)	Ohio State vs. Oregon
Allstate Sugar	Jan. 1 8:30PM	New Orleans, La.	BCS (at-large) vs. SEC	Alabama vs. Cincinnati
AT&T Cotton	Jan. 2 2PM	Arlington, Texas	Big 12 vs. SEC	Missouri vs. Arkansas
AutoZone Liberty	Jan. 2 5:30PM	Memphis, Tenn.	C-USA vs. SEC	Houston vs. Auburn
International	Jan. 2 Noon	Toronto	Big East vs. MAC	South Florida vs. Temple
Papajohns.com	Jan. 2 2PM	Birmingham, Ala.	Big East vs. SEC	West Virginia vs. Georgia
Valero Alamo	Jan. 2 9PM	San Antonio, Texas	Big Ten vs. Big 12	Michigan State vs. Texas Tech
Tostitos Fiesta	Jan. 4 TBD	Glendale, Ariz.	BCS (Big 12) vs. BCS (at-large)	Oklahoma State vs. TCU
FedEx Orange	Jan. 5 8PM	Miami, Fla.	BCS (ACC) vs. BCS (at-large)	Georgia Tech vs. Penn State
GMAC	Jan. 6 7PM	Mobile, Ala.	ACC vs. MAC	Ohio vs. Idaho
Citi National Championship	Jan. 7 8PM	Pasadena, Calif.	BCS No. 1 vs. BCS No. 2	Florida vs. Texas