Champions -- Notre Dame Women's Basketball

Muffet's Fightin' Irish played their last regular season home game this evening against a "game" University of South Florida team and it wasn't easy...

The Bulls made it a game -- but, the #3 ranked IRISH were too much in the end -- winning 80 - 68 to clinch at least a share of the Big East Conference Championship (the second in school history).

CONGRATULATIONS!

LINK:  GAME HIGHLIGHTS

LINK:  POST GAME PRESSER

Senior Day! -- IRISH Women's Basketball

Muffet's four person senior class (Photo L to R:  Devereaux Peters, Fraderica Miller, Natalie Novosel and Brittany Mallory) are playing their last "regular season" game at Purcell Pavillion today.  Irish fans can watch this game and the ceremony that follows -- LIVE on the web.  Game starts at 2 PM ET!

LINK:  SENIORS' LAST REGULAR SEASON HOME GAME

IRISH -- the Rodney Dangerfield of Basketball

What's it going to take for the media to give our FIGHTING IRISH the respect they have earned?

• Only one team in America has FIVE WINS over top-20 ranked teams (at the time they played):  #20 Notre Dame
• #17 Louisville, who Notre Dame beat at Louisville -- and is in seventh place in the Big East (ND is in third) is ranked AHEAD of #20 Notre Dame
• #10 Marquette, who Notre Dame beat -- and like Notre Dame has three losses in the Big East -- is ranked ahead of #20 Notre Dame
• #9 Georgetown, who is in fourth place in the Big East -- is ranked AHEAD of the third place team in the Big East #20 Notre Dame 
• #11 Michigan, #13 Baylor and #15 Florida State -- all THIRD PLACE teams (like Notre Dame) in their respective conferences are all ranked AHEAD of #20 Notre Dame.  Yet, Notre Dame plays in what is widely regarded as the BEST CONFERENCE in basketball...

Media bias (?) you be the judge.  Just keep WINNING -- the media will have no choice but to give the IRISH the respect they deserve.

LINK:  AP TOP 20 POLL

OT: Marquette Coach's Victory Dance

Marquette University's Buzz Williams almost caused a mini-riot after their 61 - 60 victory over West Virginia in Morgantown last night -- when he did a "victory dance" at center court.  Probably not the right thing to do -- which he admitted later.  Here's the video:

LINK:  MARQUETTE COACH VICTORY DANCE

Notre Dame Hockey Blanks MSU 2 - 0 !!!

Jeff Jackson's Fighting Irish shutout the Michigan State Spartans last night -- ending a five game losing streak.  Here's a link to game highlights and an interview with Coach Jackson:

LINK:  IRISH vs. SPARTANS HIGHLIGHTS

OT: Oregon Admits to Breaking the Rules...

Ever since the University of Southern California failed to take the path of admitting WRONG to their failure to control the benefits flowing to Reggie Bush and family -- and the subsequent NCAA penalties...

Schools are now "turning themselves in" for their transgressions -- in hopes the NCAA will go easy on them...

Yesterday, Oregon joined that list.  Chip Kelly's staff got caught giving a recruiting service a $25,000 bonus for the commitment of a highly rated running back.  What will the NCAA do?

LINK:  OREGON'S ADMITS TO THEIR SIN

Notre Dame Football Stars @ NFL COMBINE

 

The NFL has descended on Indianapolis for the next few days as more than three hundred of the top college football players (who are "draft eligible") will perform in front of every NFL Team at the annual SCOUTING COMBINE. 

Over the weekend, the ND GO IRISH BLOG will track how six of our former players are doing pursuing the next chapter of their lives.  Enjoy!

LINK:  TWO IRISH PLAYERS AMONG BEST AT THEIR POSITION

LINK:  ROBERT BLANTON -- COMBINE PROFILE

LINK:  TAYLOR DEVER -- COMBINE PROFILE

LINK:  DARIUS FLEMING -- COMBINE PROFILE

LINK:  MICHAEL FLOYD -- COMBINE PROFILE

LINK:  JONAS GRAY -- COMBINE PROFILE

LINK:  HARRISON SMITH -- COMBINE PROFILE

Irish Hoops on ESPN2 -- Saturday @ NOON!

Mike Brey's #18 Fighting Irish travel to the "world's most famous arena" -- MADISON SQUARE GARDEN -- to take on the St. John Red Storm.  Tip-off on ESPN2 is scheduled for NOON ET.

Here's a link to Notre Dame's men's head basketball coach, Mike Brey, talking about Saturday's contest:

LINK:  NOTRE DAME vs. ST. JOHN'S

Notre Dame to Explore Conceptions of Truth

The University of Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study will be hosting a global conference on the nature of TRUTH.  Leading TRUTH experts will be coming to campus April 12 - 14.  Should be quite a conversation -- I wonder how you'll know if anyone is not "telling the truth."

LINK:  A TRUTH CONFERENCE

ND Alum Named Chief of Spinal Surgery!

Lawrence G. Lenke, MD '82 was named Chief of Spinal Surgery in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.  Lenke will be heading up one of the finest spinal surgery units in the world.  Congratulations Larry!

LINK:  CHIEF OF SPINAL SURGERY

Notre Dame Researchers: Great Lakes Issue

To rid the Great Lakes of invasive species -- zebra mussels, spiny water fleas, etc., -- researchers at the University of Notre Dame have pegged the investment at $200 million to protect the $7 billion fishery.  The photo above is of zebra mussels.

LINK:  GREAT PROBLEM -- GREAT LAKES

Former Irish Soccer Star Makes MLS Roster!

Found this great article today about recent Notre Dame grad Greg Klazura making the MLS' Vancouver Whitecaps.  Notre Dame fans will enjoy reading this story!  That's a photo of Greg in the blue jersey...

LINK:  THE FIGHTING IRISH SPIRIT

ND to Build Environmental Research Park

The University of Notre Dame and St. Joseph County Parks have reached an agreement to turn 28 acres of underdeveloped land in St. Patrick's County Park (sounds like the perfect name for a park...) into an environmental research and education facility.

The facility will be called the Notre Dame Linked Experimental Ecosystem Facility (ND LEEF) at St. Patrick's County Park.  The University will be monitoring the effects of climate change, land use and invasive species in different ecosystems -- specifically water sources.

The University of Notre Dame is making a $1 million investment in this project.

ND LEEF will be using cutting-edge sensor technology so students and researchers can monitor experiments in real-time.  No time for sleep!

LINK:  ND LEEF

Jarious Jackson -- He's Still Playin' the Game!

A former Notre Dame QB -- that some believe would have been a perfect fit for Brian Kelly's offense -- Jarious Jackson, signed a two-year contract today with the Toronoto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League.

Jackson, who starred at QB for the Irish back in 1998 & 1999 -- is 34 years old and still playing the game!

I have to admit, I completely forgot that Jarious was still in professional football.  Quite an accomplishment!

LINK:  JARIOUS JACKSON SIGNS WITH ARGOS

LINK:  CBC SPORTS

That's NINE in a Row -- But Who's Counting!

For the first time in school history -- the Notre Dame men's basketball team has won nine straight Big East basketball games.  Mike Brey's #18 ranked Fighting Irish held the West Virginia Mountaineers to only SIXTEEN POINTS in the second half -- routing Huggin's boys 71 - 44.

What looked like a game at the half -- the Irish only led by two (30 - 28) -- was over, ten minutes later.

LINK:  ESPN HIGHLIGHTS

LINK:  COACH BREY POST GAME

LINK:  GAME HIGHLIGHTS

Digger, Bob & Reece in Town Tonight!

 

It's a good sign for Notre Dame basketball that late in February -- ESPN sends its "A TEAM" to televise your game.  Tonight Mike Brey's Fighting Irish take on Bob Huggins and his West Virginia Mountaineers in front of a national TV audience.  ESPN2 will carry the game LIVE beginning at 7 PM ET.

Notre Dame fans will recall the Irish came from behind late in the game to win at Morgantown a couple of weeks ago -- should be a great ballgame.

LINK:  COACH BREY AND HIS IRISH

Brady In Hot Water Over GQ Tebow Comments

Former Notre Dame All-American QB Brady Quinn is the subject of a GQ magazine story that has the sports world "buzzing" this evening.  Apparently, Brady said some negative things about his Denver Broncos' teammate Tim Tebow -- words that Quinn is now claiming were an "inaccurate portrayal of my comments."

I guess you can't rip on a QB that had a 46% completion percentage and a QB rating of 72.9 -- which was the 28th lowest QB rating in the NFL of the 34 QB's who played enough downs this past season to qualify -- WHEN YOU ARE HIS BACK-UP!

Here's what Brady's dealing with right now:

LINK:  NFL.COM NEWS

LINK:  NEW YORK TIMES

LINK:  NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

LINK:  CHANNEL 7 IN DENVER

LINK:  DENVER POST

Photo of the Day: New ND Face Masks!

Notre Dame defensive lineman, Chase Hounshell -- "tweeted" this photo today of the new face mask the Irish D-Line will be wearing next season.

I see a little Justin Tuck here -- it's close!

All's Well That Ends Well -- Davonte's IRISH!

It just goes to show you how tough the game of recruiting is...

Davonte Neal, the top "un-signed" high school football prospect in the nation was all set to announce his decision this morning at 11:30 AM ET -- in front of a live TV audience...

Only problem -- Davonte didn't show up.  He apparently was dealing with some "family issues" late into the night and morning -- and wasn't able to make the announcement at the scheduled time.

Thankfully around 4 PM ET today -- Davonte contacted Coach Kelly and told him the great news -- that he was going to play football for the University of Notre Dame.

Davonte Neal is a special talent -- he has the ability to change direction at full-speed, much like a young man did twenty-years ago in a GOLD HELMET -- named "Rocket."

Here's the initial media reaction to the news -- along with Coach Kelly's comments:

LINK:  COACH KELLY ON DAVONTE NEAL

LINK:  SI.COM

LINK:  SB NATION -- ARIZONA

LINK:  ESPN BLOG 

LINK:  ESPN -- MATT FORTUNA (ND BLOGGER)

LINK:  MAX PREPS

LINK:  DISGRUNTLED ARIZONA REPORTER

Watch Davonte Neal LIVE at 11 AM ET

America's top "unsigned" high school prep star, Davonte Neal, will be making his college choice this morning LIVE on FoxSports Arizona.  FoxSports' coverage begins at 11 AM ET -- with Neal's announcement expected around 11:30 AM ET.

The Chaparral High School (Scottsdale, AZ) star decided to make this announcement from the elementary school he attended; Kyrene de la Esperanza Elementary.

The four finalists in the Davonte Neal sweepstakes are;  Arizona, Arkansas, North Carolina and the University of Notre Dame.  Most feel it will be a choice between the home state Arizona Wildcats and our Fighting Irish.  TUNE IN!!!

LINK:  WATCH DAVONTE NEAL'S ANNOUNCEMENT LIVE -- RIGHT HERE!