Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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14 JANUARY 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME CHARTING THE IRISH TWO-EDGED SWORD Despite a 10-2 season and wins over three teams ranked by the College Football Playoff committee, Notre Dame is going to the Camping World Bowl Dec. 28 to play 7-5 Iowa State instead of one of the well-respected New Year's Six bowls. Some of this has to do with which games were available to Notre Dame (there were only two at-large bids to New Year's Six bowls this season), but it also has to do with how top-heavy college football was this year. In the first five years of the College Football Playoff, a total of five two- loss Power Five teams were left out of the New Year's Six games — an av- erage of one per season. The Power Five teams to miss out on New Year's Six games were North Carolina (11-2), Northwestern (10-2) and TCU (10-2) in 2015, West Virginia (10-2) in 2016 and Washington State (11-2) in 2018. Including Notre Dame, four two-loss Power Five teams were left out of the New Year's Six this season. The others were Alabama (10-2), Minnesota (10-2) and Utah ( 11 - 2 ) , w h i c h lost to Oregon 3 7 - 1 5 i n t h e Pac-12 champi- onship game. While Notre Dame fans have a right to be up- set about going to the Camping World Bowl with 10 wins, the Fighting Iris are certainly not the lone team that can gripe about how the New Year's Six games shook out. Moving? Let us know! Call 1-800-421-7751 Year School Record 2019 Notre Dame 10-2 2019 Alabama 10-2 2019 Minnesota 10-2 2019 Utah 11-2 2018 Washington State 10-2 2016 West Virginia 10-2 2015 North Carolina 11-2 2015 Northwestern 10-2 2015 TCU 10-2 Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom Charley Niego — Volleyball The sophomore outside hitter from Chicago was named to the AVCA All- East Coast Region Team and received first-team All-ACC recognition. She started all 29 matches and paced the Irish with a career-high 410 kills in 115 sets. She also recorded career highs in digs (326), to- tal blocks (53) and service aces (a team-best 33). In the regular-season finale against Duke, Niego recorded 20 kills and 20 digs for the pro- gram's first 20-20 outing since 2010. Zoe Nunez — Volleyball The sophomore setter from Rockford, Ill., joined Niego on both the AVCA All-East Coast Region and first- team All-ACC squads. She racked up a career-high 1,219 assists in 115 sets for a mark of 10.60 assists per set. The team captain also totaled 59 blocks, 51 kills and 24 service aces. Nunez reached the 50-assist mark in eight matches, including a trio of 54-assist efforts against Louisville, Boston College and Miami. Ryan Schweizer — Track & Field The senior from Urbandale, Iowa, made a tri- umphant return to the track after missing each of the last two indoor and outdoor sea- sons due to injury. He recorded a time of 4:15.44 to capture the mile race at the Blue-Gold Invi- tational Dec. 5-6 in South Bend. In 2017, Schweizer was part of Notre Dame's indoor distance medley relay squad that earned second-team All-ACC accolades. Rachel Tanczos — Track & Field The junior from Danielsville, Pa., shattered her own school record in the weight throw at the season-opening Blue-Gold Invi- tational Dec. 5-6 in South Bend. She notched a toss of 22.10 meters, topping her previous personal best of 21.08 set while winning last season's ACC title. In addition to winning the league title and earning first team All-ACC honors in the indoor weight throw last year, Tanczos was second-team all-conference in both the outdoor shot put and hammer throw. TOP OF THE CLASS ✦ GIMME FIVE Notre Dame's game at the Camping World Bowl will represent the 17th different name of a postseason bowl game it will have attended in 38 such contests. However, the Camping World Bowl was previously known as the Champs Sports Bowl, where the Irish lost 18-14 to Florida State to conclude the 2011 season. When the Fighting Irish finally decided to return to the bowl scene in 1969 after a 44- year self-imposed absence from 1925-68, there were only 11 bowl games. Today, 50 years later, there are 39, plus the national title game Jan. 13 between the winners of the Peach and Fi- esta bowls. That means 78 among the 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams — or 60 per- cent — play in the postseason. Here are the top five bowl games where Notre Dame has been most represented, and the only ones with three or more: Rk. Bowl Number Record 1. Cotton 8 5-3 2t. Fiesta 5 1-4 Orange 5 2-3 4. Sugar 4 2-2 5. Gator 3 1-2 TWO-LOSS POWER FIVE TEAMS LEFT OUT OF NEW YEAR'S SIX BOWLS SINCE THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF BEGAN Helmets are made-to-order and shipped direct from the manufacturer. Please add sales tax if shipping to NC (7.5%), MI (6%), or IN (7%) Delivery Limited to Cont. U.S. Blue & Gold Illustrated PO Box 2331 • Durham, NC 27702 1-800-421-7751 www.BlueGoldOnline.com ND Authentic "Speed" Full-Size Display Helmet SALE! $279 Offer Expires 2-28-20 FREE S&H #6640 Gold