David Kohl - AP

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The Notre Dame basketball team is seven games into its Big East season and sits at a respectable 4-3 in conference play, 15-5 overall, but the majority of Irish fans don't care.  This is a similar attitude to the one the Notre Dame athletic department is taking, as the Irish were ranked twelfth in basketball spending in the Big East.  The renovations to the JACC are a nice start, but the Irish still practice in a basement and the attitude on campus, at least among a majority, is that hoops just isn't that important.  I was going to write about this earlier in the week, but this must-read treatise was posted on The Pit Monday, and I recommend going over the whole thing if you have the slightest interest in ND hoops.

It's a great summary, with a few things I wasn't aware of, including the fact Notre Dame's horrendous non-conference is tied to the frugal nature of the administration towards basketball.   There are legitimate reasons to criticize Mike Brey (which we'll address in a moment), but he's also been put in a terrible position and manages to put a competitive team on the floor year-in and year-out.   This year, a very flawed Irish team appears to be headed towards the NIT-side of the bubble, but they've already defeated West Virginia and hung around with two more very talented teams (UConn and Syracuse).  With no bench - or Brey simply refusing to play the reserves more* - there's been considerable pressure put on Luke Harangody, Tim Abromaitis and the starting backcourt.  Most games, the quartet has responded with a great effort, but if even one of them is having an off night, Notre Dame is going to struggle to beat any team, especially the good ones.

* Notre Dame is ranked fourth from last in percentage of minutes played by the bench, and oddly enough, they've lost to two of the teams behind them (Northwestern and UConn).

It's very easy to criticize Brey for over-working the starters,  but it's not like when he goes to the bench he's getting consistent production.  Jonathan Peoples had a night where he went 5-for-5 from three, but many more where he's contributed significantly less.  The first big man off the bench, Carleton Scott, actually left the team for a few days, and his flashes of brilliance are wedged between periods of limited production.  Freshman Joey Brooks looks like he's ready to make a difference, but he's sort of in a back-up quarterback position, where he hasn't played enough for any flaws to be exposed and therefore is universally adored.

There are a number of problems with Brey's short rotation.  The main one is that at the moment each game reaches its most crucial minutes, Ben Hansbrough and Tory Jackson are exhausted from playing the majority of the contest.  This team is also a lot better when it's running, as its extremely unselfish nature (22 assists on 26 field goals against DePaul) blossoms in the open floor, yet at least subconsciously  it has to be a little tougher to push it when you know there's no one to give you even a short rest.  Even if guys like Brooks or Mike Broghammer aren't ready just yet, once red-shirting is no longer an option, it wouldn't hurt to have them out there playing defense and rebounding for a brief spurt while the offense goes through Gody.   (Granted, this would be a lot smaller issue if Scott Martin's leg hadn't betrayed him, but that's beyond anyone's control.)

Despite depth being such an issue - either because of Brey's coaching, Brey's recruiting or guys simply not being ready just yet - the Irish have a shot at the Big Dance.  They'll need to go at least 10-8 in the Big East considering how awful the non-conference was, but is that possible?  Following tonight's game against a fantastic Villanova team, the Irish will most likely be 4-4 in conference play.  After that, the Irish need to win at least four of these next five:

@ Rutgers

Cincinnati

South Florida

@ Seton Hall

St. Johns

Really, other than the Cincy game or at Seton Hall, there isn't an excuse for losing any of those games.  If the Irish can just manage a 4-1 mark against teams not rated above 51 in KenPom ratings, they'll be at 8-5 in league play.  They need two more wins from the remaining regular season slate:

@ Louisville

Pittsburgh

@ Georgetown

UConn

@ Marquette

Tough to pick two wins out of that bunch, and the Irish will need at least that many to make things interesting going into the Big East tournament, an event they don't necessarily excel at every year.  Save for the deep Big East tournament run, the biggest step the Irish could take would be an upset over the 18-1 Wildcats this evening in Philadelphia.  Considering there isn't a player in the ND top seven that can match up with Scottie Reynolds and Nova crushed the Irish last year, I'm not feeling very confident, but odder things have happened.  This could be the type of game that puts Big Luke back into the National Player of the Year conversation, and if the Irish are to have a chance, they're going to need an all-world night from their star.