Notre Dame Football: How Will the Sun Bowl Affect Recruiting?

There are some people that will dismiss Notre Dame versus Miami as an irrelevant bowl game.

These, coincidentally, are the same people that find fault in anything involving South Bend. They see nothing more than two 7-5 teams trying to revive a 20-year-old rivalry at 2 pm on New Year's Eve. These are the same people that find a negative in anything not involving their team.

Fans with a much broader understanding of the game realize that this December 31st battle will have major implications in regards to recruiting.

Following recruiting can be a heartbreaking experience if you let it. The highs and lows can lead into a nail-biting situation to those with extended interest.

Week by week the landscape of the future seems to change, with every decommitment we clench our teeth followed by the exhale of relief in the next few days with the next surprise verbal—think Justice Hayes, Everett Golson.

We can say whatever we want about verbal commits, but until the fax machine starts to blow up at 12:01am on February 2nd, nothing is set in stone. This is why every chance to make a statement on national television will be used as a tool to help bolster the future of the Fighting Irish.

Immediately following Notre Dame's victory over USC coach Kelly and his staff made visits to Shane Ray and Brennen Scarlett a pair of defensive ends that could bolster the defensive unit in the future.

It was Coach Kelly's appearance alone that swayed Cam McDaniel's decision to sport a golden dome in 2011.

This season when the Irish played Army at Yankee Stadium, it was the ideal situation for recruits such as Savon Huggins and Ishaq Williams to get an up close and personal look at Notre Dame football.

Although Huggins couldn't make the game, it has to play into his mind that one of his top choices has the ability to sell out Yankee Stadium.

Take the case of Huggins—a highly touted running back whose top choices are Notre Dame, Pitt and Rutgers, who many feel that he favors because of location.

When he turns on CBS on New Year's Eve afternoon and sees El Paso filled with Irish fans, when he hears the announcers talking about how this game sold out in 21 hours it will make an impact.

The fact that the game took 21 hours to sell out is because Miami was slower at getting its tickets sold.

Rutgers on the other hand is done for the season, finishing eighth in the Big East with a 4-8 record.

With the Sun Bowl being played in El Paso, Texas, this opens up a whole new recruiting situation, as Eric Murtaugh pointed out.

Texas has long been a hot spot of prep talent, and the Texas schools do a great job of recruiting in-state, but landing McDaniel and his teammate Bennett Okotcha a  6'1", 175-lb corner back who was verbally committed to Wisconsin is a great start.

Future neutral site home games at Landover, Maryland 2011, Chicago, Illinois 2012 and Arlington, Texas in 2013 as well as future games in East Rutherford, NJ just showcase the importance of tapping nationwide talent.

When Notre Dame and Miami take the field on December 31st, those who feel that it is an irrelevant game are free to do whatever they want.

Go golfing.

Watch a Dr. Phil marathon.

For those of us who actually know about football, I expect that we'll be glued to our seats.