ACC Football Bowl Affiliations: What Are Notre Dame's Ties?

What are the ACC football bowl ties and affiliations for this season, and where does Notre Dame go if it's not in the CFP?

Notre Dame head football coach Marcus Freeman hugs Tony the Tiger after his 40-8 win against Oregon State in the 90th annual Sun Bowl game on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023, at El Paso, Texas. / GABY VELASQUEZ/ EL PASO TIMES / USA TODAY NETWORK

ACC Bowl Affiliations

Notre Dame football fans don’t even want to think about it - what are the bowl tie-ins and affiliations?

And why do they not want anything to do with the bowl system this season? It means something went very, very wrong.

(The Irish are expected to be really, really good this season.)

Notre Dame bowl tie-ins

If the Notre Dame bowl-ties matters in any way, that means it's not in the newly expanded College Football Playoff, and the campaign will be a mega-disappointment. If it goes at least 10-2, it's almost certainly a lock to be in the CFP. But what if something goes wrong?

Here’s how this works. If it’s not in the playoff, Notre Dame will get one of the ACC’s bowl slots. In the past it couldn’t get the Orange Bowl - if it was available - as an semi-ACC-affiliated program, but now it’s eligible to be in any of the post-season games.

ACC bowl games for 2024-2025

It works like this, and again, Notre Dame is able to be a part of any of the bowls. However, last year it played in the Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl - a total 40-8 domination over Oregon State - so there’s next to no chance of playing in that.

College Football Playoff
Without getting too deep into the woods here - go here for all the 2024-2025 bowl tie-ins and affiliations - just assume the ACC Champion will get one of the top four seeds in the new 12-team College Football Playoff.

At absolute world-went-totally-wrong worst, it’ll get in but would have to play a first round game.

Don’t automatically assume a second ACC team will get in, especially if Notre Dame ends up taking one of the seven at-large spots.

After that, in no particular order other than alphabetical …

Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl
Likely Opponent: Big Ten
Last Season: Rutgers 31, Miami 24

Duke’s Mayo Bowl
Likely Opponent: Big Ten
Last Season: West Virginia 30, North Carolina 10

Fenway Bowl
Likely Opponent: American Athletic Conference
Last Season: Boston College 23, SMU 14

Go Bowling Military Bowl
Likely Opponent: Big Ten
Last Season: Virginia Tech 41, Tulane 20

Holiday Bowl
Likely Opponent: A former Pac-12 program
Last Season: USC 42, Louisville 28

Pop-Tarts Bowl
Likely Opponent: Big 12
Last Season: Kansas State 28, NC State 19

ReliaQuest Bowl
Likely Opponent: Big Ten or SEC
Last Season: LSU 35, Wisconsin 31

TaxSlayer Gator Bowl
Likely Opponent: SEC
Last Season: Clemson 38, Kentucky 35

Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl
Likely Opponent: Former Pac-12 program
Last Season: Notre Dame 40, Oregon State 8

Alternate ACC Bowls

These are the games the ACC should get an invite to if they’re available. This leads to one other key aspect we haven’t discussed yet. ESPN will want as many Power Four programs as possible in bowl games, and the ACC should have more available, eligible teams than tie-ins.

76 Birmingham Bowl
Likely Opponent: SEC or American Athletic Conference
Last Season: Last Season: Duke 17, Troy 10

SERVPRO First Responder Bowl
Likely Opponent: SEC or American Athletic Conference
Last Season: Texas State 45, Rice 21

Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl
Likely Opponent: SEC or American Athletic Conference
Last Season: Georgia Tech 30, UCF 17

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