COTTON, SUN, GATOR BOWLS WANT NOTRE DAME

Notre Dame is not a good football team, but bowl games aren’t about putting the best teams on the field.No, bowl games are about selling tickets and attracting TV viewers, which is why Notre Dame may play in the Cotton, Gator or Sun bowl -- bowls that are usually reserved for teams with records better than 7-5, which is what Notre Dame will likely be when the year is over. Neither the Cotton Bowl nor the Gator Bowl has ever had a five-loss team, but Cotton Bowl president Rick Baker said that doesn’t matter.”I don’t think we necessarily look just at the records,” Baker said. “We’re going to look at the matchup and the history that we have with the programs that we’re considering. That’s not a policy that we don’t take a 7-5 team, that’s just the way that it’s happened."Sorry, but that’s ridiculous. Of course the bowls look at the teams’ records. It’s just that Notre Dame is a big enough draw that the Cotton Bowl is willing to give the Fighting Irish a bid despite their sub-par record.Of course, there is a down side to Notre Dame getting better bowl bids than it deserves: The Fighting Irish have lost an NCAA-record nine straight bowl games. This year it’s likely to become 10 in a row.