Irish Obstacles -- Road to the Final Four

For the #2 Seeded Fighting Irish of Notre Dame -- here's what the road to the FINAL FOUR (the first four opponents) -- could look like, if the Top Seeds in the Southwest Region win their games:

1. Round Two:  Akron (23 - 12) -- no common opponents with the Irish
2. Round Three:  Texas A&M (24 - 8) -- no common opponents with the Irish
3. Round Four:  Purdue (25 - 7) -- Indiana State, West Virginia and Wisconsin common opponents with the Irish
4. Round Five:  Kansas (32 - 2) -- no common opponents with the Irish

It won't be easy -- but, it's also not impossible for Notre Dame to make its first FINAL FOUR appearance since 1978!  Game One -- this Friday night against Akron!!!  Here's a link to a story that gives an overview of what's ahead for Notre Dame:

LINK:  NOTRE DAME'S ROAD TO THE FINAL FOUR

Notre Dame "Selection Sunday" Show

Here's a link to UND.COM's coverage of Notre Dame basketball's "Selection Sunday" -- you'll enjoy!

LINK:  COACH BREY

LINK:  HANSBROUGH & SCOTT

LINK:  ABROMAITIS

Notre Dame a #2 Seed -- NCAA TOURNAMENT!

The University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish were awarded for a fantastic year this evening with a #2 seed in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.  While it looked like the Irish would get a #1 seed after Pitt's early exit from the Big East Tournament -- the NCAA Selection Committee gave Pitt a #1 seed (awarding them for their regular season) and apparently moved Duke into a #1 seed after their ACC Tournament win -- bumping the Irish out of that spot.  Obviously, ND's loss to Louisville Friday night -- did them in.  Oh well, it's just a number in front of your name -- it won't score you any more points or grab you any more rebounds.  It's time to play ball -- and the IRISH will get going on Friday night in Chicago against the Akron Zips in the Southwest Region.  The #1 seed in the Southwest Region is Kansas.  Looks like the Irish were ranked 6th overall -- based on their draw.  GO IRISH!

LINK:  NCAA TOURNAMENT BRACKET

Zibby Wins Fight in First Round!!!

Former Notre Dame football star and current Baltimore Raven safety -- Tommy Zbikowski, returned to the boxing ring in Las Vegas last night and the referee stopped the fight 1:45 into the first round!  As you'll see in the photo -- Zibby knocked down his opponent.  Here's a link to the South Bend Tribune story:

LINK:  ZIBBY WINS FIGHT!

NCAA "Selection Sunday" -- CBS at 6 PM EST!

This evening at 6 PM EST -- the world will know what seed the NCAA Tournament Committee has given the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.  I was feeling good a bout a #1 seed until I saw a show last night that listed ND's RPI at #7.  However, ESPN's Joe Lunardi -- still has the IRISH a #1 seed playing in the Southeast Region -- with their first round games in CHICAGO!!!  I believe the worst case scenario -- the IRISH end up a #2 seed -- and, are put in the West Region because of their drawing power and the lack of top teams on the "left coast."  Ironically, the Chairman of the NCAA Tournament Committee is a "domer" -- Gene Smith, the Athletic Director at The Ohio State University.  Here's what the media believe the NCAA will do today at 6 PM EST on CBS:

LINK:  ESPN's BRACKETOLOGY

LINK:  CBS SPORTS

LINK:  LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL

LINK:  THE EXAMINER

LINK:  PITTSBURGH POST GAZETTE

LINK:  FORT WAYNE JOURNAL

Tough Loss -- Still a #1 Seed!!!

It's taken me about fourteen hours to get over that second half performance of the Irish.  Wow -- the Louisville press just wore them out.  And, our "star" picked the wrong night to have his most difficult game of the season.  However, I still think the convincing win over Cincinnati gets them a #1 seed.  We'll know in about 27 hours.  Here's what the media is saying today about our Irish:

LINK:  NEW YORK TIMES

LINK:  LEXINGTON HERALD LEDGER

LINK:  CHICAGO TRIBUNE

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE

WOW! Irish Beat Bearcats 89 - 51 !!!

Well, the Irish just might have secured a #1 seed last night on the floor of Madison Square Garden -- as they destroyed the Cincinnati Bearcats 89 - 51 in the 2nd most lopsided loss in Big East Tournament history!  WOW!!!  Here's what the media is sayin' this morning:

LINK:  ESPN

LINK:  ESPN #2

LINK:  NEW YORK TIMES

LINK:  CHICAGO TRIBUNE

LINK:  SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE

Does a Win Tonight -- Secure a #1 Seed?

With UCONN's upset this afternoon of Pittsburgh -- the door has been opened for Notre Dame to secure a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1979!  The question now is -- will it require one win, two wins or three wins in the Big East Tournament?  I'm betting it will require two wins for Notre Dame to secure a #1 seed -- we'll know Sunday night!!!

What Makes Notre Dame -- Notre Dame!!!

You're going to enjoy this story in today's New York Times -- it was authored by former ND basketball player Zach Hillesland.  First off -- it's well written, not a surprise.  And, Zach tells a good story.  I want to thank Mike Sullivan (a Domer working for Notre Dame) -- for alerting the ND GO IRISH BLOG to this story.  You're going to enjoy!

LINK:  YEAH, NOTRE DAME IS GOOD!

ND Plays Cinci Tonight on ESPN @ 7 PM EST!

The Big East Tournament begins tonight for the #4 ranked Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.  Mike Brey's boys have been in Manhattan since Tuesday -- awaiting word on who they would be playing tonight at 7 PM EST.  Well -- that team is the Cincnnati Bearcats, who hung a 25 point whipping last night on the University of South Florida.  The Irish and the Bearcats played a game at Purcell Pavillion in January -- with ND winning 66 - 58.  The game should tip-off at 7 PM EST on ESPN.  Here's a link to UND.COM'S Game Day Central:  GO IRISH!

LINK:  GAME NOTES:  ND vs. CINCINNATI

Irish Wait For Their Opponent - Day 2 in NYC!

The folks at UND.COM have been working overtime these past couple of days in Manhattan.  Here's a few interviews that took place in the past 24 hours with all of the "award winners" for the Irish!  You'll enjoy this:

LINK:  DAY 2 @ THE BIG EAST

Choosing the "Stick" Over the "Scalpel"

Former University of Notre Dame hockey goalie, Jordan Pearce is playing these days for the Grand Rapids Griffins in the American Hockey League.  Pearce, a top-notch student at ND -- had his choice of professional hockey or Med School -- he chose the former, the latter can wait. 

Looks like it was a good decision for Jordan.   I won't be surprised if someday soon -- Detroit Red Wings fans will see him wearing the "red-wheeled wing!"  Here's a link to a wonderful story about Jordan's progress in pro hockey along with a link to a Grand Rapids Press story:

LINK:  A DOMER DOING WELL!

LINK:  GRAND RAPIDS PRESS ARTICLE

Graduation Success Rates -- Top 20 Teams

Here's the most current NCAA Graduation Success Rates (see definition below) for the teams in this week's TOP-TWENTY rankings for Men's College Basketball - as determined by the ESPN/USA Today/Coaches Poll.

You will note that three schools in the top-twenty have a "perfect" GSR; Notre Dame, Brigham Young and Utah State.   And, five schools have a GSR under 50; Texas, Florida, Arizona, Kentucky and UCONN.

Thought you would find this quite interesting -- since we know CBS and ESPN won't be talking about this over the next few weeks of their coverage of  "MARCH MADNESS."

I look forward to the day when the TV networks and news media begin placing a school's GSR  next to their football or basketball rankings -- when they publish their TOP TWENTY POLLS.   Or, why doesn't the NCAA force CBS and ESPN to put every team's GSR next to their SEEDING in the Tournament Bracket during their broadcast of "Selection Sunday?"  

FYI:  I'm not holding my breath!!!

Here is how the NCAA defines GSR:  Graduation rates are based on the IPEDS-GRS which is defined as a six-year proportion of those student-athletes who graduated versus those who entered an institution on institutional aid.  In addition to the student-athlete data in the graduation-rates data, the GSR accounts for student-athletes who transfer into an institution while discounting student-athletes who separate from the institution and would have been academically eligible to compete had they returned.

Here's the TOP-TWENTY Teams in Men's College Basketball with their GSR:

#1:  Ohio State:  64 GSR
#2:  Kansas:  80 GSR
#3:  Pittsburgh:  64 GSR
#4:  NOTRE DAME:  100 GSR
#5:  Duke:  83 GSR
#6:  San Diego State:  58 GSR
#7:  North Carolina:  88 GSR
#8:  Brigham Young:  100 GSR
#9:  Purdue:  67 GSR
#10:  Texas:  42 GSR
#11:  Syracuse:  54 GSR
#12:  Florida:  44 GSR
#13:  Wisconsin:  70 GSR
#14:  Louisville:  50 GSR
#15:  Arizona:  20 GSR
#16:  Kentucky:  44 GSR
#17:  Utah State:  100 GSR
#18:  St. John's:  70 GSR
#19:  Connecticut:  31 GSR
#20:  Xavier:  92 GSR


SOURCE:  NCAA GSR DATABASE

Hansbrough & Brey -- Big East Honors!!!

Ben Hansbrough was named Big East Player of the Year tonight -- and his coach, Mike Brey was named Big East Coach of the Year!!!  Congratulations!  Here's a link to the Big East's coverage of these major awards:

LINK:  NOTRE DAME TAKES TWO TOP AWARDS!

Big East Championship -- Tonight on ESPN!

Muffet McGraw's Fighting Irish of Notre Dame take on "Goliath" tonight -- on their home court -- for the honor of calling one's team BIG EAST CHAMPION!  Goliath is none other than UCONN -- the team that no one could beat, until Stanford took them down earlier this season.  Irish fans will recall that a few days after Stanford broke UCONN's "million game" (90 game) winning streak -- Notre Dame was well in control of their game against the Huskies -- only to lose the game in the final minute.  The second time they played this season -- not so close...

Will this be one of those "NOTRE DAME MOMENTS" tonight?  Game time is set for 7 PM EST on ESPN -- GO IRISH!  Here's a link to tonight's game notes -- courtesy of UND.COM:

LINK:  GAME NOTES -- ND vs. UCONN

2011 ND vs. USC Game -- Under the Lights?

There's a "twitter" rumor floating around that the 2011 Notre Dame vs. USC game at Notre Dame Stadium -- will be played at night -- in PRIMETIME!  It wouldn't surprise me for two reasons;

1. Brian Kelly has openly "campaigned" for Home Night Games
2. And, for NBC - it's a better "pay day" for advertisers -- much bigger audience at night

If I was running the "new NBC" -- remember, COMCAST just bought them -- I would be pushing Notre Dame to "own Saturday night" -- in the months of September and October.  Moving every home game in those two months to an 8 PM EST kick-off.  Do you agree?

Notre Dame's Response to Sullivan Incident

The University of Notre Dame released a statement today -- outlining the steps it would be taking to ensure that they will no longer be using hydraulic lifts (photo of lift -- after accident) to videotape football practice.  As you'll see in the linked story below -- Notre Dame will begin using multiple 50' poles with remote cameras atop.  Here's the story:

LINK: NOTRE DAME'S NEW APPROACH TO PRACTICE VIDEO

A Former ND Great Needs Our Prayers!!!

Jim Seymour -- who Irish fans will remember as #85 in the Notre Dame gold helmet -- who was on the receiving end of many TD passes from Terry Hanratty -- is in need of our prayers.  Seymour (seen here on a Time magazine cover with Hanratty) -- is battling a very aggressive form of cancer.  Please keep Jim and his family in your prayers!!!

Irish Advance to Big East Championship Final!

Muffet's Irish beat DePaul 71 - 67 to advance to the Big East Championship game tomorrow night -- for the first time in ten years!!!  It wasn't a pretty game -- but, the Irish advance to play UCONN -- on their home court for the title.  Here's a link to the boxscore from ESPN:

LINK:  IRISH BEAT DEPAUL -- ON TO CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!

Irish Move Up To #4 in the National Rankings!!!

Can you believe it?  The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame -- are now ranked #4 in the national college basketball polls!  Both the AP and the ESPN/USA Today/Coaches Poll have Mike Brey's boys sitting in the #4 spot.  Now, if we can win a couple of games this week -- we'll probably stay in that spot for the NCAA Selection Committee to pick us a #1 seed...  Here's a link to both polls:

LINK:  NOTRE DAME BASKETBALL -- #4 IN BOTH POLLS!!!