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Notre Dame football predicted for a New Year’s Six bowl in 2021

By Brad Weiss

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 27: Kyren Williams #23 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrates with teammates after scoring a touchdown against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the first half of their game at Kenan Stadium on November 27, 2020 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 27: Kyren Williams #23 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrates with teammates after scoring a touchdown against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the first half of their game at Kenan Stadium on November 27, 2020 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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The Notre Dame football program made their second appearance in three years in the College Football Playoff this past season, drawing No. 1 Alabama in the Rose Bowl. While the Irish struggled against Alabama, in hindsight, they actually did a better job against them than Ohio State did in the title game.

In 2021, the Irish will be looking to keep their fortunes moving in the right direction, as they are pretty much a ten-win team every season. However, to do so, they are going to have to fill in a lot of gaps, starting with quarterback Ian Book.

As the roster begins to take shape this offseason, all eyes are going to be on the quarterback spot, and transfer Jack Coan could be the front-runner. In front of Coan along the offensive line, there is going to be a ton of changes, as four-fifths of the group is gone.

However, the Irish do have a ton of talent returning, including running back Kyren Williams, and they should be one of the top teams in the country again next season.

Is a matchup with Cincinnati on the horizon?

It is always fun to look to the future, and recently, 247Sports took a shot at predicting who could earn a New Year’s Six bowl game this upcoming season. While the CFP in these predictions ended up with Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, and Oklahoma, the Irish were not shut out a major bowl game.

In fact, Brad Crawford likes the Irish to take on Coastal Carolina in the Fiesta Bowl, but one can only imagine if it was Cincinnati, a G5 school as well, taking on Notre Dame in that bowl. That would pit Brian Kelly against his former team, as well as new defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman, who was a huge get for the program this offseason.

Next. Notre Dame football: Who is quarterback Jack Coan?. dark

With a top recruiting class in 2021, and the 2022 class already starting to get some buzz, this is a program that is going to continue to produce at a high level. A Fiesta Bowl would be nice, but the CFP is always the goal, and it will be interesting to see how all of the new faces come together this summer.

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