The Preseason NIT is underway, and Notre Dame and Butler are all tied up at 16 with 7:21 left in the first half. The game is on ESPNU, which is sort of like being televised, except not.
The winner gets either Indiana or Lafayette (I’m thinking it’ll be Indiana) tomorrow at 9:00 PM on ESPN for the championship of the “Midwest Region.” There is also a consolation game at 6:00 PM.
The Midwest champ advances to Madison Square Garden for a likely matchup with Tennessee on November 22. The other semifinal, if all goes according to seed, will be North Carolina vs. Gonzaga. The championship game is on November 24, raising the (admittedly very slim) possibility of Notre Dame playing Gonzaga in basketball on the eve of the Notre Dame-USC game in football, thus causing my head to explode as all of my dual loyalties collide at once. :) Bracket here.
UPDATE: We’re trailing Butler at halftime. I believe this would be an appropriate moment to say, for the first time this season, those three magical words:
Fire Mike Brey.
Oh, and by the way, the title of this post — “Go Irish, Beat Bulldogs” — should not necessarily be seen as expressing my opinion about a potential ND-Gonzaga matchup. For the moment, I plead the Fifth Amendment about my rooting interest in that one. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Which, if the Irish lose to Butler, we won’t.
UPDATE 2: Butler 71, Notre Dame 69, final. Butler’s A.J. Graves hit a three-pointer to take the lead with 1:31 left, and then Notre Dame’s Russell Carter missed a three-pointer with 0:09 left, according to the play-by-play.
Fire Mike Brey.
November 13th, 2006 at 6:49:10 pm
Go Bulldogs!!
November 13th, 2006 at 6:50:10 pm
Harumph.
November 13th, 2006 at 6:55:13 pm
Bulldogs up at half time… Yeah tinny little school in the middle of Indianapolis…
November 13th, 2006 at 6:59:51 pm
Hey, at least I’ve got a better reason to cheer for Butler than you have to cheer for Gonzaga…
November 13th, 2006 at 8:00:14 pm
Hurrah for basketball season, I say, for obvious reasons.
(MSU: 3-0 with a MSG matchup in NYC v. Texas, this Thursday)
November 13th, 2006 at 8:37:39 pm
Who the hell is Butler??
November 13th, 2006 at 8:41:55 pm
They play in the Horizon League, along with the likes of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Illinois-Chicago, etc. They went to the Sweet 16 a few years back… 2003, I think. And I think I picked ‘em. :) Anyway, they’re a decent mid-major team. Still, losing to them is not exactly how you want to start your season if you’re Notre Dame. And losing another down-to-the-wire game by a one-possession margin? Yikes. I’ve seen this movie before…
November 13th, 2006 at 10:30:35 pm
The WOW7 area need to be recruited warriors for fighting together now….
game
November 13th, 2006 at 10:55:32 pm
Go Bulldogs :)
November 14th, 2006 at 10:20:54 am
FIRE MIKE BREY
November 14th, 2006 at 10:46:16 am
FIRE DONALD RUMSFELD.
Er, I mean,
FIRE MIKE BREY.
November 15th, 2006 at 12:14:25 pm
What are you talking about? Mike Brey is my hero. He’s the best basketball coach ever. Have you coached college basketball? No! Then clearly, you can’t have a valid opinion about his credentials. I mean, just because the team last year somehow managed to lose by incredibly slim margins after mounting late comebacks to inferior teams doesn’t mean that the same thing is doomed to happen this season. Mike Brey clearly has a strategy that defies explanation by anyone who isn’t deeply involved in college basketball strategery.
November 15th, 2006 at 1:47:22 pm
LOL
November 16th, 2006 at 2:36:51 am
“The synchronously latest suit weapon+the latest FB+latest edition!Don’t enter a
station to see!”
game