Champs Sports Bowl: Will Victory Jump Start 2012 Season for FSU or Notre Dame?

One of the most underrated bowl matchups of the season will be played this week between the Florida State Seminoles and Notre Dame Fighting Irish. 

Normally this bowl game would be the most talked about besides probably the national championship, but because of sub-par seasons, it's getting little respect. 

Both of these teams are elite programs and have been at the top of the college football world. Recently they have experienced quite a few down seasons and are both looking to quickly rise back to the top.

This season they both received tons of hype and had huge expectations, including BCS bowl games and even a national championship. Instead, they both finished the season 8-4 with several disappointing losses.

The Irish started the season off with two quick losses and turned the ball over 10 times combined in two games. Florida State started the season off in the top 10 but went on a three game losing streak in the middle of the season. Of course injuries and turnovers didn't help either one of these teams, but with the talent on each roster, there's really no excuse.

Both of these programs have experienced the best and the worst, and they're currently going through the rough part even though they have the talent to succeed right now and seem to be right on the edge of becoming a top team again that's competing for national championships.

A win in the Champs Sports Bowl could really be a start for either one of these teams.

It would erase the bad taste in one of these teams mouths and give the winner some much needed momentum heading into next season. It's a long offseason when you failed to live up to expectations, and losing a bowl game doesn't help the matter. 

Both Florida State and Notre Dame have top 25 recruiting classes coming in, they have a ton of talent returning next year and have head coaches that have had just enough time to turn things around.

I wouldn't be surprised if both of these teams are in the BCS hunt at the end of the season, but the winner of the bowl game will have a head start in making it happen.

Randy Chambers is a B/R Featured Columnist that covers College Football and the NFL. You can contact him @Randy_Chambers or [e-mail]