More photos » Bill Kostroun - AP

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Even in a mega-conference like the Big East, every team plays each leaguemate at least once, so all the Big East Tournament games are rematches.  What makes today's slate interesting is that all of the higher seeds had a lot of trouble prevailing against the round one survivors, if they even managed to win at all.

12:00pm: 9) South Florida vs. 8) Georgetown - The Dominique Jones show came to DC in early February and the Hoyas had no answer for the Bulls' star guard.  Despite trailing by nine at the half, South Florida outscored their hosts by 46-29 in the second half and won comfortably.  Greg Monroe and Austin Freeman each scored 21, but got little help from Bad Chris Wright, who was 3 of 10 from the field and 0 for 6 from behind the arc.  To make things even trickier for Georgetown, South Florida won that game without Augustus Gilchrist, the big man who is averaging 15 and 6 on the season.  When you consider the desperation factor of Stan Heath's crew and their relatively easy opening victory over DePaul, Georgetown better be prepared for a battle if they want an extended stay in NYC.

2:30pm: 13) St. John's vs. 5) Marquette - Marquette went to overtime with a lot of teams this season, but the duel with D.J. Kennedy and the Johnnies was one of their most dramatic.  The Red Storm blew a late second half lead before a Malik Boothe three sent the game to overtime.  With the clock nearing zero and the score tied in the extra session, Golden Eagle late shot specialist Jimmy Butler grabbed a loose ball and connected on a baseline jumper, knocking off the hosts 63-61.  Kennedy had 20 for St. John's, bested only by the 22 of Marquette senior Lazar Hayward.  The Red Storm embarrassed UConn in the first round, which may have reminded them of last year's Big East Tournament, when they were sent home after  a 74-45 waxing from the Golden Eagles.

7:00pm: 10) Seton Hall vs. 7) Notre Dame - When the Irish and Pirates (that sounds like the best theme party ever) squared off earlier in the season, Luke Harangody went down while Jeremy Hazell blew up.  Notre Dame lost their star midway through the second half, but still came within a pair of missed threes from forcing overtime.  Tory Jackson tried (25 points, 6 assists), but there was no answer for Hazell, who scored 35 points on 12 of 16 shooting, including an absurd 8 of 11 from three.   This game is probably the most intriguing of the day, with all sorts of fun storylines, including:

• A Seton Hall win would make them 2-0 against the Irish and force ND closer to the bubble. The Fighting Irish would still probably be in, but we'd be sweating a little come early Sunday morning.
• Bobby Gonzalez attempting to not appear completely insane on the sideline after the entertaining but none-too-flattering Times profile.
• The Irish attempting to work Luke Harangody back into a fairly succesful flow. He saw limited action against Marquette and will probably get on the floor more tonight, so it's going to take an interesting balancing act from Mike Brey.
• Can the Irish find their stroke? They've shot below 25% from behind the arc the last few games, with Tim Abromaitis stuck in a 2-for-20 funk. Notre Dame has been winning without any trey barrages (with the occasional clutch shot from Carleton Scott), but it would make life easier if a few long range shots started to drop.

9:30pm: 11) Cincinnati vs. 6) Louisville - When the old Conference USA brethren squared off this season, the Bearcats held a double-digit lead halfway through the first half in Freedom Hall.  At that point, the Cards put the pedal to the floor and pulled away for a halftime lead and a second twenty minutes where they never trailed.  Reginald Delk's double-double and three threes led the Cardinals, who forced fifteen Bearcat turnovers.   Lance Stephenson came alive in the second half against the Scarlet Knights, and Born Ready will have to repeat that effort if his team is to have a shot at advancing to play Louisville.

~

Tomorrow's schedule:

12:00pm: 1) Syracuse vs. South Florida/Georgetown

2:30pm: 4) Villanova vs. Marquette/St. John's

7:00pm: 2) Pittsburgh vs. Notre Dame/Seton Hall

9:30pm: 3) West Virginia vs. Louisville/Cincinnati

More photos » BAHRAM MARK SOBHANI - AP

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A few things as we slowly work our way towards spring ball...

* This was rumored a few weeks ago, but the 2011 Maryland vs. Notre Dame game in DC is official.  It will take place at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, home of the Washington Redskins on November 12.  When you want to talk about the "barnstorming" tactics of neutral site games, this is the sort of thing that will get Irish fans excited.  The Terps have struggled the last couple years, but between their massive fan base in the area and the large amount of Irish alums up and down the eastern seaboard, this is going to be a tough ticket.

* Theo Riddick is moving over to wide receiver, hopefully immediately becoming Golden Tate 2.0.  Quoting the coach:

"We have to get more touches for the three dynamic players at running back," Kelly said. "We got three really dynamic players that need to get on the field.

"So if you assume that the other guy we have to find room for is Cierre Wood, then if you have Cierre and Theo, somebody's not going to get a chance to get touches. So somebody had to go to wide receiver. And Theo has the best overall skills. So he's going to get a chance to compete for that inside slot receiver (spot) right away."

Kelly basically envisions Riddick, who rushed for 167 yards and 5.5 yards per carry as a freshman, as a clone of Oregon State's Jacquizz Rodgers, a multifaceted performer that can help in numerous ways.

Works for me.  Riddick showed some nice flashes at tailback last year, so getting the ball into his hands as much as possible is a good thing.  It's an even better thing if you're keeping Armando Allen's carries up and finally getting Cierre Wood some burn.

* Jack Swarbrick sat down with the media today in New York City.  The topic?  Notre Dame's place in the potentially evolving landscape of conference alignments, especially in regards to football independence.  From Pete Thamel at the Times:

"I think seismic is a possibility," he said. "I don’t know where the spectrum falls out. You have such an interesting media environment here. It’s having such an impact on people. You have two conferences who have separated themselves economically. And you have all the other conferences lined up in successive years for broadcast negotiations. That’s a tough situation for everyone in that position. The bar has been set so high, and the media market is so tepid, that it creates tension."

He added: "I’ve been in and around this business for 29 years now. This is as unstable as I’ve seen it."

Not great news that we'll look at it more in-depth once the hoops season settles down.  I'm sure the administration is very much aware that a large majority of Notre Dame alums cherish the football independence and will hopefully be making every move possible to maintain.  Keep working the phones, Jack.  I don't think you want to deal with the masses if Notre Dame football finds itself as part of the Big Ten or Big East.  If you're interested, Sports Illustrated has another look at today's presser.

More photos » Tony Tribble - AP

Born Ready Comes Home.

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Oh, woe to those who fell below the top eight and face a five game climb to a Big East Championship?  Impossible.  Maybe, but they used to say that about winning four games in a row before Pitt did it.  Fun slate today, but let's be honest: When there's Big East basketball on a weekday afternoon, how can it not be fun?

12:00pm: 16) DePaul vs. 9) South Florida - Some projections have South Florida as one of the last few teams in.  Do you know how you lose that position?  Drop a game to a team that went 1-17 in Big East play.  The Bulls have to make it to tomorrow if they even want a prayer at a NCAA bid.  I can't imagine Dominique Jones is going to let his dancing hoops die so early on.

2:30pm: 13) St. John's vs. 12) UConn - The Huskies played a tough non-conference schedule (Texas, Duke, Kentucky) and were holding their own in the Big East for a few weeks, but they stumbled all the way to 7-11 in conference.  The Red Storm actually ended the season playing better ball than their opening round opponent, finishing 4-4 in their last eight.  It's the Johnnies home floor, and considering how badly both of these teams can be at offense, expect an ugly one.

Dinner break!

7:00pm: 15) Providence vs. 10) Seton Hall: Notre Dame will play the winner of this game tomorrow evening.  A few bracket projections even have the Pirates in the tournament, but they'll have to at least make it to tomorrow to face the Irish.  Providence is a prolific offensive team, but their defense is so bad they lost their final ten games of the season, including the finale against this very same Seton Hall team.  Bobby Gonzalez is probably still upset about that New York Times profile, so expect some extra fun sideline theatrics as Jeremy Hazell and Jamine Peterson trade shots.

9:30pm: 14) Rutgers vs. 11) Cincinnati: The nightcap for the right to play Louisville late Wednesday, the Scarlet Knights will attempt to officially end the Bearcats' at-large chances.  (Those chances are very small to begin with, but hope does spring eternal.)  Cincy stumbled down the stretch, losing eight of their last eleven, but Lance Stephenson, who won four city league championships in the Garden, is coming home.

~

Tomorrow's schedule:

12:00pm: 8) Georgetown vs. South Florida/DePaul

2:30pm: 5) Marquette vs. St. John's/UConn

7:00pm: 7)Notre Dame vs. Seton Hall/Providence

9:30pm: 6) Louisville vs. Cincinnati/Rutgers

More photos » Eric Gay - AP

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When citing conference stats, I was going by these numbers.

Player of the Year: Scottie Reynolds, Villanova

This would have been easier to pick if that final three had dropped against West Virginia, but I'm still very happy to go with Reynolds as the Big East Player of the Year.   A lot of worthy candidates, but I don't think any player in the Big East was quite as scary to go against as Villanova's senior guard.  Once he started to heat up, there was a sense there was little if anything you could do to stop it.  Granted, he was playing with a host of weapons around him, meaning his assists became just as deadly as his shooting, but he really killed you from all over the floor.  Reynolds was the third leading scorer in the conference with 19.9 points per game, shooting 50% from the field, 84% from the line and 42% from three, with a steal and a half per game to boot.

Although I despise when any award is given with a sort of nod to the career in mind, it helps that we've seen Reynolds come a long, long way in his time with the Wildcats.  He started out as a talented but uneven freshman, capable of doing things like out-gunning Kevin Durant but with the occasional dose of trying to do too much, over-dribbling and jacking up bad shots.  By the time he was putting Villanova in the Final Four with some last second heroics over Pittsburgh, everyone was pretty sure the maturation was complete, and they were right.  This season we saw Reynolds at peace with his game and place in the conference, guiding his team to a tie for second place despite a lot of youth around him and inconsistent support from his frontline.  In a league with a lot of worthy players, I think Reynolds proved himself for this award. 

All-Big East First Team:

G Scottie Reynolds, Villanova

G Dominique Jones, South Florida

F Da'Sean Butler, West Virginia

F Wes Johnson, Syracuse

C Greg Monroe, Georgetown

All-Big East Second Team:

G Andy Rautins, Syracuse

G Jeremy Hazell, Seton Hall

F Lazar Hayward, Marquette

F Luke Harangody, Notre Dame

F Samardo Samuels, Louisville

Okay, there's a lot of things to talk about here.  First off, they wanted me to name a Player of the Year and then a five-man first team, but that doesn't make any sense.  Wouldn't your Player of the Year be on the first team?  Who comes off the bench?  Is someone designated?  So I contained my picks to ten people, and it was a difficult challenge, so be gentle.

The next decision to discuss is the one to put Luke Harangody on the second team.  As much as I love Luke, when I'm trying to decide between all of these really great players, I have to take into account the fact Gody missed a quarter of the conference schedule.  Is it his fault?  Absolutely not, but 18 games of any of those guys on the first team is better than 13 of Luke Harangody.  Am I happy about this?  No, but I will try to make up for it by being a total homer later.

Other tough decisions were whether to put Jones or Hazell (or attempt to squeeze both of them) onto the first team.   Bob from GonzoBall went with Jones, so I figured if the Seton Hall guy was putting his own man on the second team, that was the tie-breaker.  Da'Sean Butler was probably second in my Player of the Year thinking, and he should get extra credit because he does excellent work without a point guard to get him easy buckets in an offense that is painful to watch sometimes.  Plus he beat Scottie Reynolds head-to-head just two days ago.  If Wes Johnson hadn't hurt his hand and seen his production tail off, he might have claimed the crown, but he'll have to settle for a First Team position.

My eleventh man?  Providence's Jamine Peterson.  I couldn't pick Peterson out of a line-up of guys wearing name tags, but his stats in Big East play are absurd: 19.8 points (4^th), 9.8 rebounds (2^nd) and two three-pointers per game (14^th).  He also put up some huge numbers against teams both good (averaged 24 and 13 in two games against Cuse, 24 and 18 at Pitt) and bad (29 and 20 against Rutgers).  But his team went 4-14 and he'll have to wait until next year to get any love, because who do I bump for him, other than maybe Samardo?  And I can't, in good faith, bump the guy who single-handedly submarined Notre Dame in their trip to Freedom Hall for one I don't remember.

There aren't any Pitt players on the team, and the only real option seems to be Ashton Gibbs.  Gibbs is a phenomenal shooter, but he tied Jerome Dyson for 12^th in the league with scoring at 15.9 points per game, and didn't scratch the top of any other category.  Looking at his KenPom numbers, nothing else really jumps out except his ability not to foul or turn the ball over.  I know he hit the onions shots against West Virginia and Providence, but that's not enough to move him ahead of either Rautins or Hazell on the second team. 

Coach of the Year (Tie): Jim Boeheim, Syracuse and Jamie Dixon, Pittsburgh

Before things tipped off in November, not much was expected from the teams that lost what was basically an All-Big East team between them going into this season.*  Yet here we are in March and perched at the top of the conference are Syracuse and Pittsburgh.  Boeheim did it with the better-than-anyone-could-have-expected transfer Wes Johnson, the leadership of Andy Rautins and some big trees in the paint.  Honestly, I still don't know how Dixon did it, MacGyvering the number two seed in the Big East tournament together with only one senior in the starting lineup.  I'm not picking between these two, because they both deserve it.

* No, but seriously:

G Levance Fields

G Jonny Flynn

F Sam Young

F Paul Harris

C DeJuan Blair

6^th man: Eric Devendorf

Mike Brey should also get some recognition for the work he did following Luke Harangody's injury, emptying his bench and completely changing the team's style of play to survive in the best conference in the land, but this award goes to the guys at the top who weren't supposed to be there.

Freshman of the Year: Lance Stephenson, Cincinnati

Stephenson's rookie year at Cincinnati could be looked at in a couple of ways.  On one hand, a player with the recruiting pedigree of Stephenson should probably produce more than he did in league games.  On the other, a guy that came with all the red flags that Stephenson did should have caused more trouble than he did with the Bearcats.  It wasn't a huge year for freshmen in the league (JACK COOLEY), so Stephenson sort of gets this by default over the likes of Rutgers' Dane Miller and UConn's Alex Oriakhi, but for not falling apart under the microscope of the media and turning in a competent first year, he did his part to help earn it.

Most Improved Team: South Florida

The Bulls were 7-29 the last two seasons in the Big East, and this year they started 0-4.  After that ugly beginning, they won nine of the next fourteen, including victories over perennial Big East powers Georgetown, Pittsburgh and UConn.  Led by Dominique Jones on the court and coached by former Kent State and Arkansas head man Stan Heath (in his third year in Tampa), the Bulls were a legit threat in every game.  While Notre Dame swept them, that easily could have gone the other way, with the Bulls sitting on the inside of the tournament looking out.  As it stands, they're a threat in the Garden, and after seven wins in two years, that's quite the achievement.

Most Improved Player: Tim Abromaitis, Notre Dame

Abro played forty minutes total in the 2007-2008, red-shirted last year and ended this season as one of the best shooters in the country.  (No, really.  Check it out here and here.)  He was also the sixth leading scorer in league play with 18.2 points per game, shooting 86.7% from the free throw line and 41.3% from behind the arc.  Most importantly, he played a critical role in his team not just surviving but thriving without their star player, making up for a late-season shooting slump by continually finding himself in the lane or around the rim.  Far from a simple jump shooter, Abro developed a well-rounded offensive game that only looks to get better over the next two years.

Best Game (Tie):

February 12: Pittsburgh 98 West Virginia 95 (3OT)

February 17: Louisville 91 Notre Dame 89 (2OT)

You're probably going to need at least a single overtime period to be in consideration for this list, and with these two great games combining for twenty-five minutes of bonus basketball, just one wasn't going to cut it.  Both wove beautiful but different stories that heightened the drama, even though play wasn't the cleanest throughout either of them.  In the first, it was a revenge game in a heated rivalry, taking place a week and a half after Pitt was embarrassed on the scoreboard and battered by debris from the stands in Morgantown.  The Friday night showdown was a battle of big shot after big shot.  The first came after a surprising Pitt steal at the end of regulation, with Ashton Gibbs draining a three to tie the game with 24 seconds left in regulation to force OT.  After Gibbs missed a free throw with seven seconds remaining in overtime, Truck Bryant took advantage, making his own deep trey to extend the game another five minutes.  Da'Sean Butler took over in the second overtime, scoring the final five points of the period to again lengthen the game, this time after Pitt missed a couple of looks as time ran down.  The big shots finally ran out, and in front of a frenzied but well-behaved crowd in the ‘Burgh, the Panthers avenged their earlier loss in the Backyard Brawl, knocking off the #4 Mountaineers in triple overtime.  Round three could occur in the Big East semis this Friday night in the Garden.

The second game I'm voting for was far less heralded beforehand, but the story became clear as the night in Freedom Hall wore on.  The Fighting Irish were wounded and left for dead, playing their second complete game without Luke Harangody and coming off a home loss to St. John's.  The Cardinals were looking to quickly dispatch the haggard Irish and defend homecourt in business-like fashion.  What Louisville got was a brawl of their own, as little-used big men Jack Cooley and Mike Broghammer got their first extended action of the Big East season in an attempt to contain Samardo Samuels, who played the game of his life.  Scoring 36 points and fouling out four separate post defenders, Samuels was Rick Pitino's offense.  On the other end, it was the trio of Tory Jackson, Ben Hansbrough and Tim Abromaitis that spread and shred the Louisville defense, combining for 61 points.  In the end, the Cardinals won the war of attrition, but the Irish found their new identity and haven't lost since.  A rematch could occur in the Big East tournament Friday night.

More photos » Nick Wass - AP

Today, we are all Old Dominion fans.

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* Andy Katz is reporting that Luke Harangody will be coming off the bench for the remainder of his Notre Dame career, per a conversation with Mike Brey last night.  This is a really smart decision, as you get the cohesion of the current Jackson/Hansbrough/Abro/Scott/Nash combination to start, with the added bonus of bringing in a former Big East Player of the Year against the opponent's reserve big men.  All signs seem to point to Harangody being one hundred percent fine with a diminished role to keep the current roll of success going, which speaks to his qualities as a basketball player and person.

* Not all of the bracket services have their projections up, but it seems like Notre Dame is extremely close to being a lock.  Joe Lunardi, who has been extremely bearish on the Irish, has them as the fifth team in, just behind Illinois and Florida (more on this in a moment).  Bracketology101 seems to think the Irish are next to a lock after the Marquette win, and SBNations' resident bracketologist is yet to update today.

Katz also has the Irish in, while Doug Gottlieb is banging the drum that if the Irish fall to Seton Hall or Providence, they're out.  I don't think Gottlieb's past history with Notre Dame has anything to do with his less-than-enthusastic perspective, as he expressed the same doubts about Louisville.  Instead, Gottlieb just is dealing with a logical fallacy.  He is comparing bubble teams to some ideal standard of what one should like, or even to previous year's discussions.  The fact is that this year's crop does not cause a lot of enthusiasm, and by accruing three top 25 wins and a strong finish, Notre Dame is a great candidate even with the poor power numbers. 

Lunardi still has Georgia Tech in the bracket as the eighth team in, which is remarkable consider they're 7-9 in the disappointing and constantly overrated ACC.  Notre Dame just has to look better than some Conference USA teams (Memphis and UAB), the Mississippi schools, some A-10 stragglers (Dayton and Rhode Island) and a couple of PAC-10 hopefuls (Arizona State and Washington) and they're in.  You never know who is going to make a run, and you'd much prefer a win on Wednesday night to seal the deal, but Irish fans should feel pretty comfortable.

* But not totally comfortable, which is why haters gotta hate.  A lot of games to follow today to increase the margin for error.  Get out your pom-poms and root for the following teams:

Kentucky (over Florida)

Wisconsin (over Illinois)

Old Dominion (over VCU)

Portland (over St. Mary's)

Gonzaga (over Loyola Marymount)

Clemson (over Wake Forest)

Siena (over Rider)

(Yes, we are all on our way to the dark side.  Fear of not making the tournament leads to hate of innocent teams, when then leads to suffering next Sunday when Notre Dame doesn't appear in the bracket and we're all depressed.  Master Yoda warned us about this, but wouldn't it be sweet to have a double-bladed lightsaber?)

I guess if you're going to draw up a NCAA tournament berth-clinching win on the road on a very good team's senior day, you might as well do it with a bit of drama and theatrical flair.  Carleton Scott hit an uber-onions three pointer to tie the game with .3 seconds while recording his second straight double-double.  Luke Harangody got to test his legs and didn't force anything.  Tim Abromaitis had a nightmare game shooting the 3, but helped seal the game at line, going 7 for 8 from the charity stripe.  Marquette missed a lot of open shots they usually hit and Lazar Hayward fouled out early in the overtime period, but hey, you need to catch breaks every once in a while.

Notre Dame has clinched the seven seed in the Big East tournament and will be playing either Seton Hall, Rutgers or Providence at 7pm on Wednesday.  Celebration, anyone?

This song is ironic because it makes you feel like dancing.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend, everyone.  Go Irish.

More photos » Joe Raymond - AP

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This video is NSFW.  Most of the numbers in this post come from Ken Pomeroy's indispensable site.

It was a cruel, Rod Serling-style twist that Luke Harangody had to watch his senior night from the bench, but he was a good solider and got to see quite a show put on by his fellow Class of 2010er, Tory Jackson.  The best news of the last 24 hours is that Big Luke has been practicing and the possibility of a return before the season's end seems more viable.  I know some Irish fans are willing to let Gody rest up at least until the current rotation loses, but if Brey works his All-American back into things slowly, what a force he could be in small doses.  No one wants to see the current style of play go away, but if Harangody can integrate himself into this system fluidly, the whole team is better off.

 The game on Wednesday night was not a pretty one, but it was a win the Irish and their fans will gladly take.  A truly brutal first half that only saw seventeen points scored gave way to an explosive second twenty minutes, where the Huskies didn't have the offensive punch to keep up.  It's not surprising the Irish offense started making shots - that ‘s sort of what they do - but how did they suffocate the UConn offense so thoroughly for most of the game?

1)      Good work on the defensive boards.  On Sunday, the Huskies humiliated Louisville on the glass, out-boarding them 49-21.  Over the course of the season, they were ranked 28^th in the nation, grabbing 37.8% of available offensive boards.   The Irish basically hung even with the Huskies, being out gained by only three (34-31) and letting UConn collect only eight offensive boards.

2)      Not fouling.  The Husky guards, Jerome Dyson and Kemba Walker, have a propensity for getting to the line, but Notre Dame played great defense without committing a lot of dumb fouls.   UConn only had fifteen free throws the entire night, with just ten from their backcourt.  In comparison, against West Virginia a couple of Big Mondays ago, Dyson and Walker shot twenty-six free throws between them.

3)      Not turning the ball over.  There were a few times in the first half when Ben Hansbrough or Tim Abromaitis wanted to prove their manhood against the UConn frontline, driving directly into two or three of the seven foot trees they had planted in the paint.  This didn't end well, resulting in some blocks and transition opportunities the other way.  In the second half, the fuel for the Huskies' transition game dried up, leaving them stuck in halfcourt sets.  This was a problem because...

4)      UConn is bad at offense.  Sure, there are plenty of teams in the nation worse than the Huskies - over 260, actually - but when a team that can't shoot the ball well from outside loses the advantages of getting to the charity stripe and having second chance points, it's hard for them to score.  Notre Dame held Jim Calhoun's squad to fifteen percent below their usual free throw-rate and ten percent below their usual production on the offensive glass, taking away even more options for UConn scoring. 

Great gameplan, great effort and great execution by all parties involved.  Mike Brey and his staff are at the top of their games right now, and the players are doing all the little things - box outs, active hands, avoiding dumb fouls, grabbing loose balls - that equal winning basketball.

~

The Irish's final regular season challenge is a great one, as they travel to Marquette for Lazar Hayward's senior day.  The Golden Eagles are a stark contrast to the Huskies, as they are much smaller but much, much, much better shooters.   They're also tremendous at defending the three point line, meaning that the entire Irish team is going to have to work to cover the defensive perimeter.  Thankfully, both Ty Nash and Carleton Scott are more than capable of matching up with quicker bigs, so that shouldn't be a major issue.  The problem arises on offense, where the Marquette speed will make it a challenge to find good outside shots.   How can the Irish counter this?

By taking it to the rack.  For as good as Marquette is at defending the three (58^th in the nation), they are just as bad at defending two-point shots (248^th in the nation).  The paint should be very available, as they're ranked a putrid 317^th in blocked shots.  There's a variety of ways for Notre Dame to take advantage of this, be it on drives from Tory or Ben, or Ty getting more opportunities to show off his post game.  For being so terribly undersized at most positions, the Golden Eagles do a respectable job on the boards, coming in right in the middle of the national rankings.

The game tomorrow in Milwaukee is not a must-win, however it would almost certainly lead to a must-win in the Big East tournament.  The Golden Eagles have been quite good this season, but they're not invincible, neither in general (providing DePaul with its sole conference win) nor at home (they've lost to NC State, Pitt and Villanova there).  They did play one of their best games of the season Tuesday against Louisville, so we can only hope for a drop-off in play.  Coverage for the game is wonky on a busy Saturday of hoops - it's not even on in the DC area, where nearly every Irish game is on MASN - so be prepared to turn to ESPN360 if you want to watch it live.

~

As far as the Irish's current position for tournament play, there's a lot to be decided.  In regards to the Big East tournament, a win versus Marquette clinches the seven seed and the all-important bye.  A loss Saturday and the Irish need a loss by Seton Hall against Providence-  who had their hearts ripped out in Pittsburgh last night - to ensure the bye.  It's actually still possible for the Irish to lose and get the seven seed, but it requires Georgetown losing at home to Cincinnati and a Pirates loss.  I'm sure you've followed all of this and it's making perfect sense, but this is the simple breakdown:

Notre Dame winning good, Seton Hall winning bad.

As far as the NCAA tournament goes, Notre Dame has put itself in a position of relative comfort, but only until tip time Saturday.  A lot of the projections I've seen have them beyond the last four in (ESPN is one of the more negative outliers), but who knows how far a loss to Marquette will drop them.  With the Irish's power numbers - especially out of conference -being so poor, the margin for error is thin.  Beat Marquette, rest easy.  Lose to them and it's going to be a tense couple of days in the Garden.

Ah, March.  It's good to have you here.