Watch Notre Dame Basketball Live Tonight!

The gang at UND.COM are broadcasting tonight's Notre Dame Men's Basketball exhibition game against Marian -- live on the web. Tip off scheduled for 7:30 PM EST -- here's the link:

LINK:  ND MEN'S BASKETBALL GAME

NBC Replay: Notre Dame vs. Tulsa

Here's NBC's replay of its telecast of the Notre Dame vs. Tulsa game this past Saturday.  The Golden Hurricanes clinched the "greatest win" in their school history when they intercepted an errant Irish throw in their endzone -- with less than a minute left in the game.  Here's a link to NBC's replay:

LINK:  NBC REPLAY OF NOTRE DAME vs. TULSA

Sunday Conversation With Coach Kelly

UND.COM's Jack Nolan sat down with University of Notre Dame Head Football Coach Brian Kelly yesterday in the wake of Declan Sullivan's death and the Irish's second straight defeat.  Here's a link to the story:

LINK:  BRIAN KELLY INTERVIEW

Notre Dame's Defense -- National Ranking

It's time for our weekly look at where Notre Dame Football ranks in certain statistical categories amongst the 120 teams in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision -- AFTER NINE GAMES OF THE 2010 SEASON.  In today's analysis you'll see how Notre Dame's defense currently stands on a national basis -- as compared to their final ranking for 2009 and against the top team in the country -- in each category this season.

DEFENSE -- TEAM STATISTICS

Quarterback Sacks:  2010 Rank - #5 with 24 QB sacks -- in 2009 we had 19 QB sacks for the season, ranking us #92 -- Florida State leads the country with 33 QB sacks.  

Tackles for Loss:  2010 Rank - #47 with an average of 6.22 tackles for loss per game -- in 2009 we averaged 6.0 tackles for loss per game, ranking us #48 in the country.  Kent State leads the country with an average of 9.25 tackles for loss per game.  

Interceptions:  2010 Rank - #30 with 10 interceptions -- in 2009 we had 12 interceptions for the season, ranking us #50 -- Florida and Toledo lead the country with 16 interceptions. 

Passes Deflected:  2010 Rank - #28 with 23 pass deflections -- in 2009 we had 28 pass deflections for the season, ranking us #99 -- Oregon leads the country with 37 pass deflections.

Third Down Conversion Rate:  2010 Rank - #37 allowing only 33.36% conversion rate on third down -- in 2009 we allowed a 39.5% conversion rate, ranking us #67 -- TCU leads the country allowing only a 23.89%  conversion rate. 

Red Zone Efficiency:  2010 Rank - #76 allowing the team to score 84% of the time -- in 2009 we allowed teams to score 75% of the time, ranking us #15 -- Missouri leads the country allowing teams to score 52% of the time.

Turnovers Gained:  2010 Rank - #34 with 16 turnovers gained -- in 2009 we gained 19 turnovers for the season, ranking us #80 -- Oregon leads the country with 22 turnovers gained this season. 

Rushing Yards:  2010 Rank - #80 giving up an average of 165 yards rushing per game -- in 2009 we gave up an average of 170 yards rushing per game, ranking us #89 -- Kent State leads the country giving up an average of 65 yards rushing per game.  

Passing Yards:  2010 Rank - #79 giving up an average of 228 yards passing per game -- in 2009 we gave up an average of 227 yards passing per game, ranking us #76 in the country.  TCU leads the country giving up an average of 119 yards passing per game.

Total Yards:  2010 Rank - #80 giving up 393 yards per game -- in 2009 we gave up an average of 397 yards per game, ranking us #86 -- TCU leads the country giving up 217 yards per game.  

Points Allowed Per Game:  2010 Rank - #61 giving up 24.89 points per game -- in 2009 we gave up 25.3 points per game, ranking us #63 -- TCU leads the country giving up 8.7 points per game. 

DEFENSE -- INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Tackles Per Game:

• Manti Teo -- averaging 11.11 tackles per game -- ranked #6 in the country

Sacks:

• Darius Fleming -- 5.5 sacks this season -- ranked #41 in the country
• Ethan Johnson --  5.0 sacks this season -- ranked #47 in the country

Interceptions

• Darrin Walls -- 2 interceptions this season -- ranked #87 in the country

TOMORROW AN ANALYSIS OF THE NOTRE DAME OFFENSE

Muffet's Irish Ranked 12th in AP Poll

The University of Notre Dame's Women's Basketball Team is ranked 12th in the first poll released by the Associated Press for the 2010-2011 season.  Led by sophomore "all everything" Skylar Diggs -- the Irish are one of five teams in the Big East ranked in the top-20 poll; Connecticut (#1), West Virginia (#11), Georgetown (#13) and St. John's (#14).  Notre Dame's first game is this Wednesday -- at the Purcell Pavillion -- in an exhibition against Michigan Tech.  Here's a link to a recent interview with Skylar Diggins:

LINK:  SKYLAR DIGGINS INTERVIEW

Domer's Team Wins in Russia Last Night!

Thomas Wolfard '02 and his girlfriend Jill Haney won CBS's The Amazing Race last night in St. Petersburg, Russia.  The episode win, the second for the duo in six shows this season -- earned them a bonus from Travelocity -- an all expenses paid trip to San Paolo, Brazil.  The Domer and his girlfriend are one of seven teams left in this globetrotting adventure race.  The screen grab of Jill and Thomas is from last night's episode of The Amazing Race.  Here's a link to a replay of last night's show:

LINK:  CBS'S AMAZING RACE -- SEASON 17 -- RUSSIA