Champs Sports Bowl Tickets

In one of the more intriguing matchups of the holiday season, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will play the Florida State Seminoles in Orlando in the Champs Sports Bowl on December 29 at 5:30 p.m.

Both teams are disappointed to be playing in a bowl game that isn't in January and tied in with the BCS.

For Notre Dame, it was a case of struggling to find a starting quarterback combined with self-inflicted wounds such as silly turnovers and dumb penalties early in the season that doomed any chances of reaching a BCS game.

For Florida State, it was a section during the middle of the season where they lost starting quarterback E.J. Manuel that caused the wheels to temporarily fall off the cart. They finished the season strong, other than their puzzling loss to Virginia, and certainly have momentum, as does Notre Dame, heading into the bowl showdown.

Florida State has one of the best defenses in the country and their speed will give Notre Dame major problems on both sides of the ball. They are on the verge of making a return to national prominence, and another month of practice with Manuel completely healthy should give the Seminoles a decided edge.

Prediction: Florida State 33, Notre Dame 21