Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba.com

I just heard on Jay Mariotti show that ND is expected to hold a 4pm press conference declining a bowl bid.

He also said this:

If Notre Dame players say no, there would be no other bowl eligible teams (above .500) for the Insight to choose from. There are potentially 56 bowl-eligible teams for the 56 spots available in the 28 bowls. That number could drop if Hawaii (6-5) loses to Michigan State and Tulane (5-5) loses to Louisville.

In that case, the Insight might have to seek a waiver from the NCAA to invite a non-bowl eligible team. Possibilities then would include Louisiana Tech and Northwestern, which are both 6-6.

Hopefully they will talk about this on the Dan Patrick talk show. I think ND should take the bowl bid, and Urban jump ship before his team plays in his BCS bowl

I heard ESPN radio here in NW Ohio say that the players had already said YES they were going to play. That was about 8:45 a.m.

Then I guess Jay Mariotti got some bad info. Not surprising! He never does look very good on Around the Horn.

Jay Mariotti is Norm Wamer on a national stage...

Notre Dame really botched this one. I mean, what crappy timing.

I explained the situation to my wife, a total non-sports fan, and she just said, "why would they do that?"

Good question.

I hope the Irish players get a chance to play in the Insight Bowl. They earned it.

Notre Dame will play in a bowl game... no question.
The TV station I work for here in Chicago sent one of our sports guy to South Bend the other day.. and there was no talk of not bowling.
ND isn't about to say no to the money that comes from a bowl game