Big 12 Football: Ranking each bowl game by watchability

4. Camping World Bowl: Iowa State vs. No. 15 Notre Dame

Location: Orlando, FL

Date: Dec. 28

The first of two Big 12 bowl games on Dec. 28, it will be interesting to see how the seven-win Iowa State Cyclones will compete against the No. 15 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish. If the Longhorns were to square off against Notre Dame, it would be a matchup of giants. But the underdog mentality of Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell could be a tough test for head coach Brian Kelly and his Fighting Irish.

Notre Dame comes in with just two losses on the regular season. And both of those regular season losses came against good teams, the Michigan Wolverines and Georgia. Iowa State’s best regular season wins came over the Longhorns, TCU Horned Frogs, Texas Tech Red Raiders, and West Virginia.

In the lengthy history of the Notre Dame football program, there is still not a single matchup between the Fighting Irish and Iowa State. The two schools aren’t all that far apart geographically, but they have never met on the gridiron. This could lead to a fun battle between junior quarterbacks in Iowa State’s Brock Purdy and Notre Dame’s Ian Book.

The Camping World Bowl might be a little bit lopsided if this Notre Dame team keeps rolling. Kelly has his squad trending in the right direction after an embarrassing road loss to Michigan earlier this year. But both offenses have potent quarterbacks and ground games that can do a lot of damage if either defense doesn’t show up to play.