Cardinal Turkson to Celebrate Mass at ND!!!

He's one of the Cardinals being discussed as a leading candidate to replace Pope Benedict XVI -- and, he's scheduled to be at the University of Notre Dame the first weekend in March!

Cardinal Peter Turkson the Archbishop of Cape Coast -- Ghana -- is expected to be celebrating the 10 AM Mass at the Basilica of Sacred Heart on Sunday, March 3rd.

LINK:  BRITISH BOOKMAKERS NAME HIM THE FAVORITE

LINK:  ONE OF THE FAVORITES

LINK:  TWO CARDINALS IN THE RUNNING

Irish a #6 Seed in First Look at NCAA Bracket

ESPN's Joe Lunardi -- their resident "bracketologist" -- just released his first look at what he projects as the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament field this March.  You'll see NOTRE DAME gets a first round match-up with Illinois...

LINK:  NCAA BRACKET

Can't Watch This Enough -- Five OT Thriller!

The gang at Fighting Irish Digital Media produced this piece on the FIVE OT WIN Saturday night over #11 Louisville.  It was a huge win -- on many fronts -- for Notre Dame.  I'm also attaching a link to a New York Times story about the game...

Enjoy!

LINK:  FIVE OT THRILLER

LINK:  NEW YORK TIMES STORY

Photo of the Day: Coach Kelly at Pebble Beach

Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly is seen here walking down a fairway with San Francisco 49ers' Jim Harbaugh during Sunday's final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.  Coach Kelly and his PGA Tour playing partner James Driscoll finished in 23rd place.

OT -- A Story You Must See...

I learned of this story during a meeting at Notre Dame this afternoon.

Two Oregon high school basketball players, on opposing teams -- created a moment that will touch your soul...

Enjoy.

LINK:  A STORY YOU MUST SEE

The Mornin' After ND's Historic Hoops Win!!!

It was a NOTRE DAME MOMENT...

The IRISH took FIVE OVERTIMES -- over a two day period -- to beat #11 Louisville 104 - 101 last night.  Here's what the media has to say about "Sunday morning's" historic win for Notre Dame:

LINK:  EAMONN BRENNAN -- ESPN

LINK:  DICK VITALE -- ESPN

LINK:  SCOTT GLEESON -- USA TODAY

LINK:  ERIC ANGEVINE -- NBC 

LINK:  C.L. BROWN -- LOUISVILLE COURIER JOURNAL

LINK:  MIKE DeCOURCY -- SPORTING NEWS

LINK:  BRIAN HAMILTON -- CHICAGO TRIBUNE

LINK:  TOM NOIE -- SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE

LINK:  TOM COYNE -- ASSOCIATED PRESS

LINK:  WSBT -- INTERVIEW OF JERIAN GRANT

LINK:  WSBT -- INTERVIEW OF ERIC ATKINS

LINK:  WSBT -- IRISH FANS STORM COURT

TOOK 5 OT's -- WHAT A WIN FOR THE IRISH!

The folks sitting in front of us left -- with three minutes to go in regulation time -- saying "We've had enough of this..."

Those of us that stayed -- WITNESSED HISTORY!

The first regular season game to go five overtimes in BIG EAST HISTORY -- and the first five overtime game in the 115 year history of Notre Dame basketball.

And, the IRISH WIN 104 - 101 over the 11th ranked Louisville Cardinals !

Here's some of the quick highlights:

• Jerian Grant scores 12 straight points in 28.6 seconds at the end of regulation to put the game in overtime -- after not making a shot from the floor in the first 39 minutes of the game!
• In OT -- coming off the bench in the second OT period, Garrick Sherman scores 17 points and grabs six rebounds
• Four Irish players foul out -- including three starters
• And we needed every scholarship player to finish this game out...

FOLKS -- YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO JACK NOLAN'S CALL OF THE GAME -- it's the link called GAME HIGHLIGHTS.  A classic!

LINK:  ESPN COVERAGE 

LINK:  GAME HIGHLIGHTS

2nd Anniversary of Grandma Barb's Death...

Woke up this morning thinking about my Grandma Barb Doyle...

It was two years ago today -- about 9:40 PM ET -- that I received the phone call from my Mom that Grandma had left for heaven.

I was sitting in a South Bend restaurant at a table with Bobby Knight, Digger Phelps, Rece Davis and some friends of mine from Notre Dame -- minutes after the IRISH had beat Louisville in overtime.

And now, here we are two years later and ESPN's in town again for a Notre Dame basketball game with Louisville.

Tip-off is slated for around 9 PM an I'll be in the seats cheering on the IRISH and saying a Hail Mary for my Grandma.

I miss you Grandma...

The photo above is of my Grandma Barb Doyle at the age of 93 -- standing with her great-grandson Jimmy -- our oldest.

Coach Kelly Day 3 @ Pebble Beach Pro-Am

The Third Round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am  is almost in the books and Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly and his PGA Tour playing partner James Driscoll are currently TIED FOR ELEVENTH with a NINETEEN UNDER score!

The top 25 scores and ties -- will play tomorrow in Sunday's final round -- looks like Coach Kelly will make the cut!

You'll want to tune-in to CBS at 3:00 PM ET to watch the final round.

LINK:  LIVE LEADERBOARD

Notre Dame Student Makes Shot for $18,000!

Casey Murdock '13, a senior finance major at the University of Notre Dame made a half-court shot today, during ESPN's College GameDay Show, to win a check from State Farm Insurance for $18,000 !!!

You have to see the video!

LINK:  NOTRE DAME STUDENT MAKES HALF-COURT SHOT

LINK:  ESPN GAMEDAY AT NOTRE DAME

College GameDay -- Only Sixth Time in History!

ESPN's College GameDay crew is back on the Notre Dame campus this weekend to cover tonight's game between Louisville and our Fighting Irish. 

This marks only the SIXTH TIME in history that ESPN's College GameDay has been on the same campus -- for two separate sports -- during the same academic year.  

Irish fans will recall that College GameDay was here for the Stanford football game.

Here are the six college campuses:

• Oklahoma State
• Texas
• Ohio State
• Florida State
• Michigan
• Notre Dame

LINK:  STORY

Todd Lyght & Rick Minter Join Eagles' Staff

Chip Kelly announced the hiring of a couple names -- familiar to many Notre Dame fans -- to his Philadelphia Eagles coaching staff.

Former "two-time" Notre Dame All American Todd Lyght (photo above) will become the Assistant Defensive Backs Coach and former Irish defensive coordinator Rick Minter will become the Inside Linebackers Coach.  Here's the story:

LINK:  KELLY ANNOUNCES EAGLES' STAFF

Digger Phelps Firing Up Notre Dame Students!

ESPN's Richard "Digger" Phelps -- returned home to Notre Dame last night to visit the dining halls on campus to motivate the "Leprechaun Legion" to turn-out for tomorrow's COLLEGE GAMEDAY SHOW at Purcell Pavilion.

Here's a story and video of Digger doing his thing:

LINK:  DIGGER BACK ON CAMPUS

Photo of the Day: ESPN's Rece Davis at ND!

ESPN's Rece Davis is on campus today with his cohorts from COLLEGE GAMEDAY -- preparing for tomorrow night's hoops game between the IRISH and Louisville.  Here Rece is "prepping" for tomorrow's show in the ND Training Room with Jack Cooley...   

Tonight at 10 PM -- a College Gameday Campout in the JAAC will be held -- click here for details.

Photo "tweeted" by @NDSportsBlogger -- Josh Flynt

Coach Brian Kelly -- Lowest Round of the Day!

The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is in its second day and Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly's pro-am team is currently sitting in a tie for 22nd with a score of -11 after two rounds of play. 

Coach Kelly contributed 4 strokes today to their team's 9 UNDER PAR score -- the lowest score today!

The teams with the top 25 scores and ties -- after tomorrow's third round -- will advance to Sunday's final round!   Look for Coach Kelly during tomorrow's telecast of the tournament:

• Golf Channel from 1:00 PM ET to 2:30 PM ET
• CBS from 3:00 PM ET to 6:00 PM ET

LINK:  LIVE LEADERBOARD

Eight Notre Dame Football Players Get Invite

The NFL has invited eight Notre Dame football players to participate in their NFL Scouting Combine -- February 20 - 26 in Indianapolis.  This annual "talent show" will bring together more than 300 college football players to showcase their athletic, personality and character skills in front of representatives of each of the NFL's 32 franchises.  The eight ND football players are:

• Manti Te'o
• Braxston Cave
• Cierre Wood
• Theo Riddick
• Zeke Motta
• Tyler Eifert
• Kapron Lewis-Moore
• Jamoris Slaughter*

*Now, Jamoris Slaughter is hoping he'll be given a sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA -- which if he does -- he won't be down in Indy.

The photo above is of Harrison Smith -- the former Notre Dame captain used last year's NFL Scouting Combine to turn a lot of heads and move up into the FIRST ROUND of the NFL DRAFT!


LINK:  OFFICIAL NFL INVITE LIST

Day 2 -- Coach Kelly Pebble Beach Pro-Am

Stay tuned to the ND GO IRISH BLOG for updates on the media coverage surrounding Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly's efforts to "make the cut" at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Today -- Coach Kelly will be teeing off at 11:00 AM ET on Spyglass Hill Golf Club in a foursome that includes New England Patriots' Bill Belichick.   Just click on the links below for the media coverage.

LINK:  PERFECT EXCUSE FOR POOR PLAY

LINK:  COACH KELLY'S CADDIE 

LINK:  SECOND ROUND LEADERBOARD

Coach Kelly @ AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am

You can tune in here to the ND GO IRISH BLOG to follow how Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly is doing this week in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.  Coach Kelly is playing with PGA Tour player James Driscoll.

Thursday update -- First Round:

• Driscoll shot a 2 over par 74 on Monterey Peninsula Country Club's Shore Course
• Team score was 2 under par -- so Coach Kelly contributed four shots to the team with his 13 handicap
• Tied for 116th

Other football coaches and their team scores:

• Jim Harbaugh and his partner are tied for 3rd at 9 under par
• Bill Belichik (who played in the same group with Brian Kelly and partner are tied for 72nd with a 4 under par score

LINK:  FIRST ROUND LEADER BOARD -- PRO-AM

Rankings of Football Recruiting Classes

Here's a look at all of the media properties that rank college football recruiting classes.  Now before you get too excited...

Just listen closely to a Monday Night Football game when the players announce where they went to college -- you'll see then how important high school recruiting rankings are..

Here are the rankings as of this morning:

LINK:  RIVALS RANKS ND #3

LINK:  SPORTS ILLUSTRATED RANKS ND #3

LINK:  MAX PREPS RANKS ND #3

LINK:  247SPORTS RANKS ND #3

LINK:  SCOUT RANKS ND #4

LINK:  ESPN RANKS ND #4

Media Reaction to ND's Recruiting Class

The University of Notre Dame's football program had quite a day yesterday -- landing one of the top recruiting classes in the country.  As has become custom around here at the ND GO IRISH BLOG -- I've taken a lap around the worldwide web to see what's being said about ND Football.  Just click on the links below:

LINK:  DAN WETZEL -- YAHOO SPORTS

LINK:  CHICAGO TRIBUNE

LINK:  INDIANAPOLIS STAR

LINK:  SPORTING NEWS

LINK:  THE OBSERVER

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE

LINK:  ESPN BLOG

LINK:  NBC SPORTS

LINK:  CHICAGO SUN-TIMES