Texas A&M has intriguing matchup in Action Network's early bowl game projections for 2023 season

The Texas A&M football team will face Notre Dame in a home-and-home series in the 2024 and 2025 seasons, beginning with a home game on Aug. 31, 2024 and ending with an away game in South Bend, Ind. on Sept. 13, 2025.

Action Network has the Aggies and the Irish clashing one year early, though, in the latest College Football Playoff/bowl game projections it released Monday. A&M and Notre Dame are projected to square off in the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa, Fla. on Jan. 1, 2024. The Action Network also set betting odds for each game and have the Irish as one-point favorites.

The Aggies are coming off a 5-7 season, which kept them out of a bowl game for the first time since 2008. But they figure to have one of the more talented rosters in college football and returned all but three cemented starters from last season, in running back Devon Achane, cornerback Jaylon Jones and safety Antonio Johnson.

Not to mention that A&M has added eight scholarship players from the NCAA Transfer Portal this offseason: defensive backs Tony Grimes (North Carolina), Sam McCall (Florida State) and Josh DeBerry (Boston College), linebacker Jurriente Davis (Jackson State), quarterback Jaylen Henderson (Fresno State), wide receiver Jahdae Walker (Grand Valley State), running back David Bailey (Colorado State) and fullback Jerry Johnson III (Rice).

After Brian Kelly left for LSU, Notre Dame had an up-and-down 9-4 season under first-year coach Marcus Freeman. The Irish lost to lowly Marshall (26-21) and Stanford (16-14), but they also defeated four opponents that were ranked at the time: No. 16 BYU (28-20), No. 16 Syracuse (41-24), No. 4 Clemson (35-14) and No. 19 South Carolina (45-38).

Notre Dame made one of the biggest splashes in the portal earlier this offseason, landing Wake Forest quarterback transfer Sam Hartman. The sixth-year senior claimed All-SEC honors in each of the last two seasons, earning second-team distinction in 2021 and third-team recognition in 2022.

In the all-time series between these two programs, the Irish own a 3-2 advantage over the Aggies. They most recently played each other in a home-and-home series in 2000-01. Notre Dame won the first game, 24-10, while A&M came out with the victory in the final matchup, 24-3. They also met three times in the Cotton Bowl, with the Aggies winning the first game (35-10 in 1988) and the Irish claiming the victory in the final two games (28-3 in 1993 and 24-21 in 1994).

A&M has never played in the ReliaQuest Bowl (2023-present) or its two previous iterations in Tampa, the Hall of Fame Bowl (1986-1995) and Outback Bowl (1995-2022). Notre Dame has not appeared in any of those bowl games as well.

Sept. 2: vs. New Mexico

Sept. 9: at Miami

Sept. 16: vs. Louisiana Monroe

Sept. 23: vs. Auburn

Sept. 30: vs. Arkansas (AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas)

Oct. 7: vs. Alabama

Oct. 14: at Tennessee