The Mornin' After Notre Dame's Elite Eight Win!

Well, the media is singing the praises of the Fighting Irish this morning -- just be ready for the "NO CHANCE WITH KENTUCKY" stories we'll hear over the next 36 hours....

Here's what they're saying:

LINK:  SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

LINK:  INDY STAR

LINK:  ESPN BLOG

LINK:  CBS

LINK:  ESPN

LINK:  CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER

LINK:  CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

LINK:  CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Notre Dame's Post Game Press Conference

Coach Brey, Jerian Grant, Pat Connaughton and Demetrius Jackson spoke with the media after last night's ELITE EIGHT WIN over Wichita State!

LINK:  POST GAME PRESSER

Wichita State's Coach Talks Loss to Notre Dame

Wichita State head coach met with the media after their 81 - 70 loss to Notre Dame in an Elite Eight game in Cleveland last night...

LINK:  WICHITA STATE COACH

Inside Notre Dame's Blitz of Wichita State!

You're going to want to watch this edition of IRISH CONNECTION -- as it takes a look inside Notre Dame's decisive run in the 2nd half to put the game away against Wichita State.

As the coach at Wichita State said in his post game press conference; "I've never seen a one point lead get out of hand so quickly..."

LINK:  IRISH CONNECTION

BELIEVE! We Are In the ELITE EIGHT -- BABY!

It's time we ALL start believing in NOTRE DAME BASKETBALL.  What an effort tonight as the Fighting Irish won a game -- most of the pundits said they had no business winning...

81 - 70 over Wichita State -- and it wasn't that close...

So, now we hope to play COLONEL SANDER'S TEAM.  Please give Notre Dame a shot at a 37 - 0 Kentucky team Saturday night...

Isn't this fun!

LINK:  GAME HIGHLIGHTS

Why Calipari and Company Won't Sleep Well!

The University of Notre Dame has ended MORE STREAKS than any other school in the history of American sport -- and beaten more #1 teams -- take a look:

The Fighting Irish has already beaten Kentucky twice when the Wildcats were ranked #1 -- why not three!


STREAKS NOTRE DAME HAS BROKEN:

• UCLA's 88 game winning streak
• Oklahoma's 47 game winning streak
• Miami's 36 game winning streak
• Texas 30 game winning streak
• Army's 25 game winning streak 

NOTRE DAME BEATING #1 in BASKETBALL

• Syracuse 2012
• North Carolina 1987
• Virginia 1981
• Kentucky 1980
• DePaul 1980
• Marquette 1978
• San Francisco 1977
• UCLA 1974
• UCLA 1971
• Indiana 1954
• Kentucky 1948
• NYU 1948

Wichita State's Greg Marshall Talks Notre Dame

The Shocker's head basketball coach Greg Marshall met with the media today in Cleveland to talk about tomorrow night's Sweet Sixteen game with our Fighting Irish -- and rumors he's headed elsewhere to coach next season...

Here's what he had to say:

LINK:  USA TODAY STORY

LINK:  KANSAS

LINK:  WICHITA EAGLE

Are You Fired Up for Thursday Night's Game!

The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame have been in Cleveland since Tuesday -- getting ready for tomorrow night's SWEET SIXTEEN game against the Shockers of Wichita State.

Here's the media coverage from today:

LINK:  COACH BREY PRESSER

LINK:  CONNAUGHTON & GRANT PRESSER

LINK:  PRACTICE FROM THE "Q"

LINK:  A SON MOURNS

OT: NCAA Releases USC Investigation Docs

Some of the documents concerning the NCAA investigation of the USC football program during the Pete Carroll era -- were released today.

Interesting read...

LINK:  USC INVESTIGATION

Brian Kelly Gives Spring Practice Update Today

Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly met with the media today to talk about how the first few Spring practices are going for his Fighting Irish:

LINK:  COACH KELLY

Notre Dame -- IS A BASKETBALL SCHOOL!

The verdict is in --- anyway you measure it -- the most successful men's and women's basketball programs in the country hail from Notre Dame, IN.

LINK:  BASKETBALL SCHOOL

Under Armour / Notre Dame -- Bloomberg TV

The folks at BloombergBusiness featured Under Armour's investment in college athletics -- in this story.

Their relationship with Notre Dame was discussed.

LINK:  UNDER ARMOUR / NOTRE DAME

Mike Brey's "Life Coach" -- His Mom...

The Chicago Tribune's David Haugh penned this piece this morning about Mike Brey and his relationship with his Mom...

LINK:  LIFE COACH

A Look at W / L Amongst SWEET SIXTEEN

Here's a look at the "head to head" wins and losses amongst the SWEET SIXTEEN teams left in the NCAA Men's Basketball National Championship. 

HEAD TO HEAD W / L -- SWEET SIXTEEN - ranked by total wins:

• #3 -- NOTRE DAME:  7 - 1
• #1 -- Duke:  7 - 3
• #2 -- Arizona:  4 - 0
• #4 -- North Carolina:  4 - 7
• #1 -- Kentucky:  3 - 0
• #1 -- Wisconsin:  3 - 1
• #5 -- West Virginia: 2 - 1
• #3 -- Oklahoma:  2 - 2
• #5 -- Utah:  2 - 2 
• #8 -- North Carolina State:  2 - 4
• #2 -- Gonzaga:  1 - 1
• #4 -- Louisville:  1 - 6
• #11 -- UCLA:  1 - 7
• #6 -- Xavier:  0 - 0
• #7 -- Wichita State:  0 - 1
• #7 -- Michigan State:  0 - 4

Brady Quinn One of the Domers in Phoenix

The NFL held their first ever "Veteran's Combine" for NFL free agents still looking for a team to play for this season -- and Fox broadcaster Brady Quinn was on the field looking to impress a scout or two...

LINK:  VETERAN'S COMBINE

Inside Look at Notre Dame's Win Over Butler

You'll enjoy this great inside access to Notre Dame's OT win last night over Butler:

LINK:  INSIDE THE IRISH

Two FOUR GUARD Teams to Meet in Sweet 16!

Notre Dame will be playing Wichita State Thursday night at 7:15 PM ET in Cleveland -- in a match-up of two teams who start "four guards and a forward."

Wichita State -- a #7 Seed -- rolled over #2 Kansas tonight -- wasn't even close in the second half.  

We've got our hands full!  Here's what we know about Wichita State:

STARTERS:

• Guard:  Tekele Cotton -- 6'-3" Senior /  9.6 pts / 4.1 rebounds
• Guard:  Evan Wessell -- 6'-4" Junior /  4.1 pts / 3.4 rebounds
• Guard:  Ron Baker -- 6'-3" Junior /  15 pts / 4.5 rebounds
• Guard:  Fred VanVleet -- 6'-0' Junior / 13.1 pts / 4.4 rebounds
• Forward:  Darius Carter -- 6'-7" Senior / 11.1 pts / 5.4 rebounds

BENCH:

•  Center:  Bush Wamukota -- 6'-11" Junior / 1.1 pts / 1.5 rebounds
•  Forward:  Rashard Kelly -- 6'-7" Freshman / 3.0 pts / 3.0 rebounds
•  Forward:  Zach Brown -- 6'-6" Freshman / 3.2 pts / 1.4 rebounds
•  Forward:  Shaquille Morris -- 6'-7" Freshman / 5.0 pts / 2.7 rebounds

LINK:  HIGHLIGHTS OF WIN OVER KANSAS

Full Game Replay: Notre Dame vs. Butler

If you didn't get enough of this game last night -- here's the full-game replay of Notre Dame's 67 - 64 OT win over the Butler Bulldogs:

LINK:  FULL GAME REPLAY

The Media the Mornin' After a "Sweet" Victory

The news of the passing of Betty Brey -- Coach Brey's 84 year-old Mom -- put a damper on any post game celebrating for the Fighting Irish.  Betty, a former world-record holder in the 100 Fly and 1956 US Olympian -- died of an apparent heart attack yesterday morning.

The OT victory over Butler was a HUGE win for Notre Dame as they get back to the SWEET SIXTEEN for the first time in 12 years -- here's the media's post game reports:

LINK:  INDY STAR

LINK:  CHICAGO TRIBUNE

LINK:  SPORTING NEWS

LINK:  ESPN

LINK:  SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

Prayers for Coach Mike Brey's Family Tonight...

Mike Brey's Mom passed away Saturday morning at the age of 84 from a heart attack...

Now I understand the emotional hug Jack Swarbrick gave to Coach Brey at game's end.

Coach Brey will head to Orlando today to be with his Dad and siblings -- to mourn the loss of his Mom -- will be back at Notre Dame on Monday.

PRAYERS.

LINK:  COACH BREY TALKS ABOUT HIS MOM

LINK:  BETTY BREY

LINK:  FULL POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE