Notre Dame Will Not Be Going to El Paso: Mike Teel's gentle but firm deflowering of Louisville last night (six touchdown tosses...in the first half!) means that there is zero chance Notre Dame goes to the Sun Bowl, due to a bunch of rules regarding 7-5 teams versus 6-6 teams.  Thanks for the effort, Louisville; you were only playing for a bowl bid.  Everyone in wearing red is most likely still lingering on that Western Kentucky upset over the weekend, so a no show like this on Thursday night to avenge the Jeremy Ito game of 2006 is understandable.

Where will the Irish be bowling?  I still think Texas, just so Jarett Dillard can close out his career by catching seventeen balls for 300 yards against us.  I'd prefer Hawaii for any number of reasons (not on NFL Network, a nice birthday/Christmas gift to myself), but there are still a few other options still available, including San Diego and beautiful Shreveport.]

Luke Harangody might be resting until the Big East schedule starts: Mike Brey doesn't want to risk rushing Harangody back from his bout with pneumonia (Luke won by KO in seven rounds, for what it's worth), so while he may knock some rust off in the Functional DNP's against Delaware State and Savannah State in late December, it's unlikely he'll see the floor against Ohio State this weekend.  Andy Katz seems to think the team will now be leaning on Luke Zeller, and if by "leaning" he means "starting one Luke in place of the other," then he's probably correct.

This game Saturday is going to be a tough one: With Harangody out, the freakish height of the Buckeyes' starting guards (6' 6" and 6' 7") and the fact the game is being played in a football stadium that has the likelihood of throwing off three-point shooting (the large, cavernous venues tend to do that, at least at first), I am not feeling confident for the showdown between Ty Nash and BJ Mullens everyone's been talking about.  It's a 4:00ish start (Gonzaga murders Indiana beforehand) on ESPNU Saturday, and matches one of the best offenses in the country against one of the best defenses, but to be fair, the Buckeyes' defense didn't look that swell until future lottery pick Jack McClinton was kicked out of the game.  It will undoubtedly be a fun game and has the potential to give the Irish wins over two big-time conference champions. 

The women's soccer team is still undefeated: However, they are putting that pristine record on the line in the College Cup Final Four against the Stanford Cardinal at 4:30 pm on ESPN2 and ESPNU.  If they win, they'll either face UCLA, the team they bested for the 2004 national title, or North Carolina, the Irish's mortal enemy and a team that knocked them out in 2006, although the favor was returned last season.