I never thought there could be this much mystery behind where the Irish might be bowling, but I guess that's what happens when you go 6-6.  A not-so-brief rundown:

If Louisville manages to upset Rutgers on Thursday night, then there's an opportunity for the Irish to go to the Sun Bowl.  If not, Notre Dame can go any bowl that doesn''t have enough teams from a given conference to satisfy their tie-ins.  When you're skimming through these various links, asterisks usually denote a bowl missing a participant and in need of subbing someone in.

CBS Sports: Texas Bowl, versus Rice.

Scout: Texas Bowl, versus Rice

ESPN: Hawaii Bowl, versus Hawaii, and Poinsettia Bowl, versus BYU

MSNBC: Hawaii Bowl, versus Hawaii

SI: Texas Bowl, versus Rice

~

While I'm fully in favor of Notre Dame athletics continuing to branch out in the Hawaiian islands, that spot will disappear if Arizona State can manage to knock off rival Arizona and earn their sixth win.  The Poinsettia Bowl appears to be in the process of trying to import Boise State into play TCU, which would be a fantastic way to kick off the postseason, but ultimately pretty disappointing for a Broncos squad that wants another crack at the big boys.

The other potential games Notre Dame could go to, as they're missing participants with one weekend of limited play to go, are the Motor City, Independence and Papajohns.com Bowls.  I have no idea who would get first pick between the Texas and Hawaii Bowls, but I would bet heavily on one of those two destinations for the Irish.  It's going to be a functional road game either way, with Jarrett Dillard and the Rice Owls in Houston or the Rainbow Warriors in Honolulu.

The Texas Bowl is December 30th (on NFL NETWORK!), the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve night.