Nicely done, Irish.
Black & Green, Rakes of Mallow and AOL Fanhouse have more on the game.
Elsewhere:
• LSU stuns Florida.
• Gonzaga, as I mentioned earlier, beats USF to keep slim at-large hopes alive.
• Winthrop beats Coastal Carolina, finishes the first undefeated Big South regular season ever. The conference tournament starts Tuesday at their gym.
• Creighton beats Wichita State to wrap up an NCAA bid… probably. Could the committee leave an 13-5 Valley team out of the Big Dance if they lose in the quarterfinals of the MVC tourney? In this “weak bubble” year, I doubt it, but the Bluejays will want to beat the #7/10 winner in St. Louis, just in case. Best-case scenario for Valley fans: Creighton and Missouri State win their quarterfinal games; MO State beats Creighton in the semis; Bradley or Northern Iowa upsets Southern Illinois in the other semifinal, and beats MO State in the title game. Hello, four bids!
• Georgetown beats Pitt, takes Big East lead.
• Syracuse wins at Providence in bubbleicious battle.
• Virginia beats Georgia Tech, put Yellow Jackets’ at-large hopes on life support.
• BC beats Clemson; same as above. (Life support.)
• Texas Tech beats Okie State in another bubbleicious battle. Cowboys collapsing.
• Air Force loses again, falls to third in the Mountain West. I know it’s tough to win on the road in the MWC, but losing 5 out of their last 6 road games is a little much — especially for a team ranked #13 in the country, and widely projected as a #4 or #5 seed! I don’t often say this about a mid-major, but I think the Falcons are overrated.
UPDATE: Some late results:
• Speaking of Mountain West road losses… BYU lost to San Diego State.
• More importantly, USC kicked Cal’s ass on Senior Night, and had a “Rudy” moment as senior walk-on Chris Penrose, who rarely plays, hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds, and was carried off the court by his teammates. Nice. Also, Lodrick Stewart became the Trojans’ all-time 3-point shooting leader.
• Santa Clara lost to Loyola Marymount, so Gonzaga can clinch a share of the WCC regular-season title with a win over San Diego on Monday (or win it outright if they beat San Diego and Santa Clara loses at Pepperdine).
• Southern Illinois beat Evansville to complete a 15-3 season in the Missouri Valley Conference. That’s pretty damn impressive.
• Missouri State beat Drake to continue its drive for an at-large berth — and, continuing on a theme, Blake Ahearn became the school’s all-time leading 3-point shooter.
• Michigan State beat Indiana. The Hoosiers, who were ranked and projected as a #5 seed not so long ago, have lost 3 of their last 4.
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Categories: Notre Dame, NCAA Basketball & Pools
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February 24th, 2007 at 8:03:30 pm
(As noted by a Marquette alumnus): Phooey on the Irish and their still-waiting-to-be-fired coach, Mike Brey.
February 24th, 2007 at 9:59:31 pm
His job is safe now.
February 24th, 2007 at 10:33:35 pm
Is this like the Matrix only Charlie Weis is Agent Smith and can infiltrate anyone’s body when necessary ? Man, good shot charlie.
February 24th, 2007 at 11:01:35 pm
That is the creepiest picture ever. First of all, the player’s hand looks like something that crawled out of the twilight zone. And secondly, since when do shoelaces come out of people’s shins? Seriously, where is that string coming from?
February 25th, 2007 at 1:24:30 am
mike brey should win big east coach of the year.
February 25th, 2007 at 2:12:47 am
I am really liking our chances in the NCAA tournament. All season long I’ve worried about our offense, but we’re getting more and more dangerous every week with Gabe Pruitt back, while Lodrick Stewart and Nick Young have been unbelievable. Daniel Hackett and Taj Gibson have been getting better and better each week, Dwight Lewis is really coming on of late, and our defense has been very solid all year long. However far we go this year, if Nick Young doesn’t go pro, we’re going to be title-worthy next year with OJ Mayo coming in.
February 25th, 2007 at 8:05:36 am
Both Jackson and Harangody have come on strong for the Irish as of late. It’s nice to see their confidence building and them playing more solidly with each game Hopefully, the team doesn’t have a letdown at the RAC, where they have struggled in recent years, and (if they succeed in the RAC/Cuse loses) they’ll be the 4 seed in the BET. It would be nice to see them get a win there for once. If they win a game in the BET, they should be around a 6 seed, and if they happen to win the tourney, they might slip into a 5 or even a 4 for the Big Dance.
February 26th, 2007 at 10:15:13 am
Screw the MVC 4 bids. After Ill St wins the 7/10 game, we are going to knock of #2 Creighton, then beat #3 Missouri St before upsetting bitter rival #4 Bradley in the final! NCAA’s, here we come!
*chugs big jug of Kook-aid*
February 26th, 2007 at 2:01:35 pm
LOL