So, is Notre Dame a good team or not?

Life is good when you're in the Big East.  Just in case you don't believe it, just ask Notre Dame.  I heard a college basketball talking head say that Notre Dame was one of the most underrated teams in the country and will be a 6 seed in the tournament after completing their remaining gauntlet of games.  Gauntlet?  Really?  They host Marquette and West Virginia at home and travel to West Virginia and Georgetown...but that's about all I see- the rest...DePaul, Rutgers and Providence at home and @Villanova and @ St. John's.  that's it people!  They caught Syracuse, Louisville and UConn when they were all struggling.  Frankly, the Big East simply hasn't proven much beyond Syracuse (w/Melo), Georgetown, and Marquette.  Both UConn and Cincy have looked average several time this season.  When Rutgers is upsetting people all over the place, something is wrong.    

Here are just a few reasons that Notre Dame is hard to figure out, and is not even clearly a tournament team:

-Played a weak non-conference schedule that was rated over 200 in the country and lost their only away game to Gonzaga...by 20.
-Beat Detroit by 6.
-Lost to Georgia and Maryland
-Was disected by Missouri (87-58)
-Beat Syracuse- with or without Melo-home or not, it was huge...but Syracuse sucked that night.
-Beat UConn on the road but lost to them at home
-Lost @ Rutgers by 7
-Won @ Louisville


With all that unpredictability and an RPI rank below 50 (as high as 85 is some polls), most brackets have Notre Dame "in."  Go figure...They've already lost 8.  Are we saying that if they lose 12 games, they should be "in?"  I just don't see it.  


 

The luck of the Irish combined with the allure of the Big East.  Must be nice.

I like Cooley and the two guards who are shooting it from outside, but the rest of Notre Dame just don't look like they can play.  I thought Abromaitis' loss would finish them off- instead they start winning big games.  What am I missing?

Is Notre Dame good? 

No.

They lost to Georgia on a neutral court. That's enough evidence for me.  

It is amazing to see them now in a lot of brackets.  You got to love being in these BCS conferences where you get 1-2 wins vs the high ranked teams and that is good enough to get you into the dance even with having a ton of losses and several questionable losses.

Mid Majors for the most part on the other hand only get 1-2 chances for that big win then even the ones that do are then left for dead when they lose 2-3 conf games.

Total BS and every year it shows up when the mid majors pull off the double digit seed wins vs the big boys seeded very high.

VCU and Butler final 4 last year as 8 and 11 seeds says all that needs to be said.

Wichita State won the NIT tournament (could have easily made the sweet 16 or farther possibly if they got a bid even as a 12 seed)

But your Wichita State and you lost a few too many MVC games so you get no bid.

Happens every year.

Is Notre Dame good? 

No.

They lost to Georgia on a neutral court. That's enough evidence for me.  

Amazing how bad that loss looks right now. Obviously the Fighting Irish have gotten better but you can't explain some of the losses they have taken. How they win in the Big East with the lineup they put out there every night is amazing to me.

It is amazing to see them now in a lot of brackets.  You got to love being in these BCS conferences where you get 1-2 wins vs the high ranked teams and that is good enough to get you into the dance even with having a ton of losses and several questionable losses.

Mid Majors for the most part on the other hand only get 1-2 chances for that big win then even the ones that do are then left for dead when they lose 2-3 conf games.

Total BS and every year it shows up when the mid majors pull off the double digit seed wins vs the big boys seeded very high.

Are you seroiusly complaining that mid-majors don't get a fair chance?

Mid-majors only get 1-2 chances for that big win... well, maybe they should schedule more higher profile schools on the road?  What's there to lose? If you're so good, beat the great programs on the road, and let that do the talking for the mid-major program when it comes to proving how good they are. If you're going to play cupcakes all year, and lose to 2-3 of them, then why should you even be in the NCAA Tournament when your resume sucks. A mid-major with 0-2 "quality wins" is like a peson that didn't go to college, applying for a $40/hour job. You would need a good resumè for that. They won't hire you because you haven't proven that you have the skills to qualify, and experience as well.

I don't feel for a lot of these mid-majors at all. Most of them don't beat a single quality opponent during the year, yet, find themselves in the NCAA Tournament because they simply won three games in three days in the conference tourney. That sir, is unfair, when some of these bigger schools end up missing out on the tournament because they have the same amount of wins, better SOS, more quality wins, but a few games where they slipped up to so-so teams, and they slipped up early in their conference tourney compared to these mid-majors that get in.

I'm sick of the mid-major crybaby's crying for fairness. Mid-majors have it more than fair.  

Shouldn't the bigger question be "Is the Big East really down this year if a 14-8 team can be tied with 13-9 South Florida for 4th place in the conference?"  Even the ACC is doing better than that and they get hammered relentlessly for being a weak conference.

Most of them don't beat a single quality opponent during the year, yet, find themselves in the NCAA Tournament because they simply won three games in three days in the conference tourney.

Sounds like both UConn and Butler last year. How'd they do in the tourney?

This tight game today will be a major determining factor in their NCAA tourney hopes.  They are playing Marquette really tough.  If they can pull it out, then they have my vote (if temporarily) to get a bid.  They have some bad losses, but with a win today, they will have a bunch of quality wins in conference.  Pulling for them until (or if) they play SU again in the BE tournament. 

Mike your dead wrong.  You have no clue what the mid major teams have to deal with.  Do you like a 4 for 1 as in you get 1 home game and you have to play 4 on the road ?  Ya that is fair.  Go look up how many road games your BSC schools play out of conf.  Not neutral games true road games.  Go look it up buddy.  They play very few.  Meanwhile your mid majors have to play triple the tru road non conf games and not sure if you noticed (see Syracuse loss on the road to a struggling ND team at the time) it is hard to win on the road even the great teams lose to lessar teams on the road.

You think it is fair that the mid majors have to play the BCS schools on the road 90% of the time ?  It isn't even close to fair.

You know nothing about what these teams go through in scheduling.

Man you make yourself look more foolish everytime you open your mouth.

Looking good today against the Golden Eagles!!

Answer = Yes. 

You think it is fair that the mid majors have to play the BCS schools on the road 90% of the time ?  It isn't even close to fair.

You know nothing about what these teams go through in scheduling.

Man you make yourself look more foolish everytime you open your mouth.

^^  Do you know why this happens?  Every mid-major team wants to play the cream of the crop.  even close losses on the road give them cred.  why do you think a team like Cornell schedules Kentucky?  Or Harvard vs FL State.  you wanna talk mid-major?  the Ivy doesn't even rate that well.  These teams are trying to make a name for themselves and there is no other way than going on the road to do it.  Fair?  its not about fair.  Its about taking a shot.  and its not by accident.  Be careful who you call foolish. 

Dead on Bolt 5 stars!!

Sounds like both UConn and Butler last year. How'd they do in the tourney?

Last time I checked, UConn actually beat some very good teams. Unlike mid-major tournaments, the Big East tournament actually has good teams. I hate it when people try to bash me when they don't even understand the point I'm trying to make.

Butler, well... both years were just simply luck. Sure, beat all of your schools by 3-5 points. Nothing but luck. Only reason why Syracuse didn't beat them in 2010 was because we lost our starting center and we missed a ton of wide open shots. It had nothing to do with how good Butler was. As you can tell from this year, Syracuse doesn't play as well without their best center in the game. That's what happened in the Butler game in 2010.

You have no clue what the mid major teams have to deal with

Murray State is making it real tough this year right?  As did Memphis in the past?

They don't deal with squat. They have easy schedules for the most part, with a couple of good teams (maybe) on the road during the course of the season against a legitimate NCAA Tournament team. Mid-majors that don't try to develop a good program shouldn't get respect. They shouldn't even be allowed to make the NCAA Tournament. There should be some kind of a rule that if a team doesn't have a top 100 SOS, they aren't allowed in the NCAA Tournament that year.

There's no excuse for these mid-majors to not schedule a bunch of big boys on the road over the course of the season. For one, these mid-majors would get more money from the big boys schools by going on the road and playing them.. with possible TV and advertising endorsments. More money means a better coach, better facilites and that in return, results in better players and a chance of beating the big boy schools on a regular basis for real respect. If the program's administration/coaches, etc. are going to schedule nothing but cupcakes all year long and then cry for respect, they'll never get it. Just look at SDSU fans and BYU fans. 
 

Butler, well... both years were just simply luck. Sure, beat all of your schools by 3-5 points. Nothing but luck. Only reason why Syracuse didn't beat them in 2010 was because we lost our starting center and we missed a ton of wide open shots. It had nothing to do with how good Butler was. As you can tell from this year, Syracuse doesn't play as well without their best center in the game. That's what happened in the Butler game in 2010.

Funny how you are using Arinze Onuaku to make a point here, considering you've bashed him for the last two years on these boards.  If he was so important to SU's 2010 team(which he was IMO), then why the constant bashing?  You can't have it both ways.

I love it, MikeSyr getting called out by knowledgeable Syracuse fans!

I think you got your answer today Uno, yes Notre Dame is a good team.

I think you got your answer today Uno, yes Notre Dame is a good team.

I'll admit today's win was surprising-especially the manner.  This team is pretty unpredictable.  Agreed.  They seem to be pretty good too.  Even with all my criticism of the Big East, wins over Syracuse and Marquette look pretty good.