Notre Dame- A school filled with tradition, history (yes, they are different) athletic success, and great athletes in all sports. Basketball hasn't always been Notre Dame's fortee (fortay, forte- you know what I mean. I'm not a spelling genius) but like every team, they've had their years. Troy Murphy's senior class started the most recent run of Irish success on the hardwood, and it carries on as we speak. Coming into this season, many thought the Irish would challenge for the Big East title in both regular and post-seasons. Now that we're down to 10 games left in the regular season, less for some teams, we see that ND has no realistic shot at the regular season crown.
They started 12-3, with losses only to UNC, Ohio State, and St. John's. They also possesed a 45 game home win streak, until January 24th, when UConn had heard enough of it and ended the streak with authority. That loss came smack in the middle of a 5 game (and counting) skid for Mike Brey's team. Which brings up the question: what the heck is goin on up there?
Well, it sounds biased (kind of is, but not intended), but ND plays in arguably the best conference in basketball. The Big East currently has 7 teams in the AP Top 25, with 2 others (including the Irish) being right outside the poll. The next "closest" conference is the ACC, with 4 teams in the Top 25. All of Notre Dame's last 5 games have been against ranked teams (Syracuse, Marquette, UConn, Pittsburgh, and Louisville) the lowest ranked being Syracuse at 15. 3 of those 5 have come on the road: Syracuse (arguably the loudest arena in college basketball) Pitt, and Lousiville. Senior forward/center Luke Zeller isn't making any excuses though: "There are no excuses. Every single game in this league is a tough game. It's going to be a tough stretch the rest of the way, we just need to dig in and find a way to win every single night."
Mike Brey sees a bright spot though. Wait, where exactly do you see that Coach?
"I think it's not bad for them to be smacked around a little bit. It's been a good life here; they've been on a pretty good run. The seniors really haven't experienced anything like this since their freshman year. And no one on the team has experienced getting smacked four games in a row. Now granted, we have played some really good teams." Mike Brey stated after the Marquette game. "This is not a bad thing to toughen the group up, to see if they can come out of it tougher and understand it. I firmly believe, with this group, that we have a run in us. It's going to be really hard, though, and I think they understand that."
Notre Dame now travels to Cincinnati and UCLA before returning home to face Louisville again. UC provides a break from ranked opponents (as of Sunday 2/1, the Bearcats are unranked), but that doesn't mean the 'Cats won't provide a tough test for the visiting Irish. Deonta Vaughn, Mike Williams, and Yancy Gates all average over 10 ppg, and UC is coming off an upset over Georgetown. UCLA is ranked 16th in the nation (again, as of 2/1), and started 14-2 before winning 3 of their last 5, placing them at 17-4 on the season. The Bruins are currently on top of the Pac-10 standings, led mostly by Darren Collison and Josh Shipp.
Luke Zeller said it best though : Notre Dame needs to dig deep and find ways to win. I'd still bet that they are in the NCAA tourney come mid-March, but the Irish need to turn the streak around if they want a decent seed.
-Jay
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