All indications point to Notre Dame accepting an invitation to the Champs Sports Bowl regardless of the outcome of Saturday night's game against No. 4 Stanford.

Although there will be no official announcement until after the final BCS rankings are released next Sunday, the Irish are expected to play in the Dec. 29 game in Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium in Orlando, Fla, likely against Florida State. 

The only other reasonable scenario would have the Irish accepting a BCS bowl invitation if they lept from their current No. 22 to the top 14 in the BCS, which is extremely unlikely even with a big win over Stanford