InsideNDSports – Conference championship and ACC shenanigans reroute Notre Dame to Sun

In a convoluted twist of fate, Tommy Rees helped derail a possible Jan. 1 reunion of LSU coach Brian Kelly and the team he presided over for 12 seasons, Notre Dame.

Not that the potential ReliaQuest Bowl matchup between Kelly’s Tigers and the second rendition of coach Marcus Freeman’s Irish was ever a done deal.

But when former Irish offensive coordinator Rees and Alabama upended No. 1 Georgia Saturday in the SEC Championship Game, it tripped the domino that prevented Notre Dame or an ACC team from landing in the ReliaQuest Bowl opposite an SEC opponent and subbed in a Big Ten team alternative instead.

And then the bowl path got even more twisted for the 16th-ranked Irish (9-3), rerouting from an expected fallback Pop-Tarts Bowl bid and ultimately landing in Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl, Dec. 29 against No. 19 Oregon State (8-4).

It’ll be the third-ever football meeting ever between Notre Dame and the Beavers, with none of them coming during the regular season. Kickoff is 2 p.m. EST on CBS.

Oregon State dismantled Notre Dame 41-9 in the Fiesta Bowl at the end of the 2000 season under coach Bob Davie. Four years later the Beavers took down the Irish, 38-21, in the Insight Bowl following head coach Tyrone Willingham’s firing at the end of the regular season. Interim coach Kent Baer, ND’s defensive coordinator under Willingham, guided the Irish during bowl season.

Oregon State will have an interim coach in this matchup with Jonathan Smith having accepted the head coaching job at Michigan State. Wide receivers coach Kefense Hynson has been elevated into the interim role.

The Pop-Tarts Bowl was reportedly supposed to get the first pick from the ACC/ND pool outside of the New Year’s Six to match up with the second pick among Big 12 teams not involved in the New Year’s Six. If that’s the case, they would have bypassed both No. 15. Louisville (10-3) and the Irish to take 18th-ranked NC State (9-3), which lost to both, to pair against No. 25 Kansas State (8-4).

The ACC held a late-afternoon conference call with several bowls, according to the Brett McMurphy of the Action Network, to place most of its teams, beyond Orange Bowl-bound champions, No. 5 Florida State (13-0). “The ACC’s top 3 picks – Pop-Tarts, Gator & Holiday – could not select the Irish, sources said,” McMurphy tweeted.

It will be Notre Dame’s second trip to the Sun Bowl and Oregon State’s third. The Irish thumped Miami, 33-17, in winter-like conditions at the end of the 2010 season, Kelly’s first as Irish head coach.

Oregon State starting quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, a transfer from Clemson who has faced the Irish twice, has re-entered the transfer portal and won’t play a third time against ND. Oregon State’s top backup is freshman Aidan Chiles.

The Downey, Calif., product has completed 24 of 35 passes for 309 yards and four TDs with no interceptions. The 6-3, 200-pounder has rushed for 78 yards and three TDs on 17 carries.

The Beavers lost games to Washington State, Arizona and conference champ Washington by a combined eight points, before Oregon overwhelmed them on the road, 31-7 in OSU’s regular-season finale on Nov. 24.

Oregon State heads into bowl season solid on both sides of the ball, 32nd in total offense and 35th in total defense. The Irish are 29th and eighth, respectively.