Notre Dame didn’t make the College Football Playoff, but Sunday’s rankings helped determine where the program will spend Christmas.

Because No. 4 Alabama made the playoffs despite not winning its own division within the SEC and because No. 5 Ohio State won the Big 10 and because No. 6 Wisconsin fell just short in that league to make the Orange Bowl, it opened the door for the Citrus Bowl to grab Notre Dame for the first time.

The Orange Bowl is obligated to take the highest ranked SEC/Big 10/Notre Dame team that’s also not a conference champion. This year, that was Wisconsin. And when that’s a Big 10 team, the Citrus Bowl is obligated to swap allegiances from the Big 10 to the ACC/Notre Dame.

In summary, that's how the Irish got to Orlando and why they'll get to Orlando when they do.

The No. 14 Notre Dame (9-3) will face No. 17 LSU (9-3) on Jan. 1 at 1 p.m. at Camping World Stadium. It’s the second bowl matchup with the Tigers in the past four years and fourth postseason matchup overall.

If Ohio State had made the playoffs and Alabama had finished No. 5, that would have sent the Crimson Tide to the Orange Bowl to face Miami. In that scenario the Citrus Bowl would have taken a Big 10 team and Notre Dame would have headed to the Camping World Bowl, played in the same stadium as the Citrus Bowl about a week earlier.

Notre Dame would have drawn a Big 12 team in that matchup.

Instead, the Camping World Bowl will feature its regularly affiliated Big 12 (Oklahoma State) vs. ACC (Virginia Tech) matchup on Dec. 28.

The difference in bowl payout doesn’t mean much to Notre Dame because the school automatically kicks that revenue back to the ACC for redistribution. However, the Citrus Bowl means Notre Dame's players can head home for Christmas before reconvening in Orlando on Dec. 26 for bowl prep. A Camping World Bowl bid would have meant a Dec. 22 arrival in Orlando and a working holiday.

Regardless of the destination, date or opponent, the bowl does allow Notre Dame to finish with 10 wins for the third time under Kelly while pulling his postseason record with the Irish to 4-3. The wins have been minor bowl victories over Miami, Rutgers and LSU, with the losses coming on the bigger stages against Alabama, Ohio State and Florida State.

Brian Kelly will address the media later today.