Sorry for the delay, folks, but I was traveling the last couple days and only now have been able to sit down and digest the Fighting Irish's first round opponent.  This seems to be a pretty difficult draw, as Old Dominion is a big, deep, veteran team that's comfortable playing slow.  They've already played a lot of bigger conference teams this year (Missouri, Dayton, Richmond, Mississippi State, Georgetown, Northern Iowa), including a victory over the Hoyas on campus.  They're coming out of the Colonial Athletic Association, a league that's seen some tournament success the last few years with George Mason and Virginia Commonwealth.  The odds of the Monarchs being intimidated by playing a Big East school are somewhere south of zero.

Things revolve around 6' 10" senior Gerald Lee, the only ODU player to average double digits on the season.  Lee is one of the main reasons Old Dominion is highly ranked in 2-point field goal percentage (49.4%, good for 107th) and offensive rebounding rate (42.4%, first in the country).  I'm particularly impressed by Lee's numbers in the game against Mississippi State, because even with Theo Ratliff 2.0 Jarvis Varnado patrolling the paint and collecting five blocks, Lee went 9-for-15 for twenty points.  Complementing Lee on the inside is 6' 8" Frank Hassell, the team's leading rebounder and shot blocker, as well as the second-leading scorer.  Coming off the bench in support of the front line is a very intriguing player in Keyon Carter, another 6' 8" body that can rebound and shoot three at a 35% clip, good enough to lead the team.

And that, friends, is where we find Old Dominion's apparent weakness: they cannot shoot the three.  To their credit, they recognize this and don't shoot that many.  When the treys fall -as they did against Georgetown when the Monarchs hit 7-of-16 - they seem very, very difficult to stop.*  Their guard rotation consists of 6' 1" Darius James, 6' 5" Ben Finney and 6' 5" Kent Bazemore, so some good size in the backcourt as well, making this team's offensive rebounding rate make more and more sense.  This would also lead me to believe Notre Dame could institute the same sort of sagging man they used on Connecticut and Pittsburgh players not named Ashton Gibbs, but perhaps Mike Brey has something else up his sleeve.

* When we discuss the Georgetown game, I think it's important to note that Bad Chris Wright showed up, shooting 2-of-8 and going 0-for-3 from three.  When BCW is in the game, any loss is possible for the Hoyas.

Here is the weird thing about the Monarchs: despite an absurd proficiency for scoring 2-pointers and some very good big men in the post, they barely ever get to the free throw line.  They're not particularly good at shooting as a team when they get there - although Lee, their leading shooter there, is 76% - but I'm excited to crack open 360 and see what kind of offense they run that they're scoring a ridiculous amount of 2-pointers without getting fouled that much.  Crafty Monarchs.

If you're interested in taking your own look at Old Dominion, they have four games on ESPN360, including all of their CAA tournament contests and the win at Georgetown.  I think I'm going to start with their semifinal win over VCU (in overtime) and then move onto to the Hoya victory.  The Irish have been playing great basketball, but this Monarch team seems like a tough, slow, big team that is going to be a very, very difficult out.

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Some other random stuff:

• In case you were not aware, the game will start at 12:25 Thursday afternoon from New Orleans, with Dick Enberg and Jay Bilas on the call.
• Old Dominion is based in Norfolk, Virginia, and has an enrollment of over 24,000 students.  They're a little short on famous alumni I could dig up, so for our purposes this week, focus your hatred on Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander and Cash Cab host Ben Bailey.  Et tu, Ben?
• Notre Dame is a two-point favorite over the Monarchs, and if you're really feeling confident about their chances, you can get them at 20-1 to advance to the Final Four.