Tourney Time

Brey and the gang have been away from South Bend since Tuesday adjusting to the higher altitude in Denver; hopefully the preparation time will result in a win for the Irish, who will look to rid themselves of the bad taste in many of the player's mouths that resulted from losing in the first round of the tournament last year. It would appear that the Irish have a strong chance to redeem themselves; the South Bend Tribune posted an article that highlights the thoughts of some analysts who feel that ND can be a bracketbuster this year:

“I like Notre Dame going to the Sweet 16,” Sports Illustrated’s Seth Davis said on the CBS selection show.

“They’re a team at a 5 seed that can be very difficult to knock off,” said CBS lead college basketball analyst BillyPacker."

“One of the most dangerous teams in the tournament,” said CBS studio analyst Clark Kellogg.

However, Irish fans still have a few reasons to be worried heading into tonight's game.


1. Notre Dame has not played well away from home this season, even in neutral site games. Losses to Baylor and Georgia Tech in the Virgin Islands combined with a 5-4 away record in the Big East (5-5 counting the less than impressive outing in the Big East tournament this year) have shown that ND for some reason lacks the ability to bounce back from sloppy play if they start the game flat.

2. As teams begin to hassle Luke Harangody in the paint more, other players need to step up. Kyle McAlarney has been able to play this role very well over the season, but if ND can't get double figures from someone else on the roster, it creates the potential for a stagnant offensive outing.

3. Throughout the season, Notre Dame has occasionally struggled to assert itself on the defensive glass. Most recently, teams like USF and SJU have been able to stay in the game by grabbing timely offensive rebounds. Come tournament time, all that a team needs to do to win sometimes is to stay in the game, and allowing a lesser, smaller team like George Mason to hang around until the final two minutes is not something any Irish fan wants to see.

However, I like Notre Dame's chances against the Patriots tonight. One of the primary reasons for last year's loss to Winthrop was the inexperience of the team; Harangody especially seemed anxious, scoring only 4 points in a limited 17 minutes of action. Don't expect that from the team this year though. Bam-Bam is much more conditioned, and every starter has the added experience of playing in the tournament last year (and the one player that doesn't will be playing hungry from missing that chance).

Also, this isn't the same George Mason team that reached the Final Four two seasons ago. If the Irish can shut down the trio of Thomas, Campbell, and Vaughan (combine for 62% of GM's scoring and 55% of the team's rebounds), the Patriots lack the depth to compete with a team that can spread the ball like Notre Dame. George Mason also plays a much slower style (avg GM game has 132 points) of play than ND (avg combined score of 150), so if the Irish can get up early, there is a good chance that GM will have a hard time catching up.

I'll try not to jinx tonight's game with another Mike Brey quote of the week, so I'll just stick with mentioning that Purdue (wearing white) was able to beat Baylor (who was wearing green and yellow) when I was writing this post.

Happy Dancing, Go Irish! Beat Patriots!