Irish Headed to NIT
Notre Dame’s disappointing basketball season will be capped off with a trip to the NIT as a #2 in the NCAA’s consolation tournament. Notre Dame received a St. Patty’s day matchup with UAB on Tuesday at the Joyce Center. While a game on St. Patrick’s Day for Notre Dame will make Irish fan’s St. Patty’s Day festivities a bit more merry, it will also serve a reminder of how truly disappointing this season has become. A pre-season top 10 ranking and talk of dreaming big from Mike Brey had expectations sky high this year.
Most college basketball observers would have characterized even a low seed for the Irish in the Tournament a disappointing season for Notre Dane, and the thought of missing the tourney completely seemed unthinkable in November.
Despite the disappointment of missing the NCAA Tournament, it will be important for Brey to get his team to play tough and build a little momentum for 2009-10. Brey shouldn’t let his team forget that a trip to the NIT, even if the Irish were to win the it, is not something to be celebrated. If Harangody returns next season, Notre Dame will have a very experienced roster which will add transfers Ben Hansbrough and Scott Martin – both of whom sat out this season.
Tuesday night’s game tips off at 9pm and will be televised ESPN2. Notre Dame joins fellow Big East schools Georgetown and Providence in the NIT. Georgetown, one of the few teams to have a more disappointing season than Notre Dame this year, will play Baylor while Providence will host Miami (Fl) in the first round. Georgetown(16-14), Virginia Tech (18-14), Northwestern (17-13), and Washington State (17-15) are the only teams in the field fo 32 with fewer wins than the Irish (19-14). For the full 2009 NIT bracket, click the image below.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
Hopefully, they leave the sponge-bob defense at home.
[…] The Seminoles have a noble mascot history that I admire a great deal. The NCAA sanctions schools with Indian mascots, and won’t allow the imagery to be used in post season play. It was offensive, you see, to everyone except the Seminoles. (Now that we’re all sufficiently sensitive, let’s get drunk tomorrow to celebrate St. Patty’s day and watch the Fighting Irish play in the NIT!) […]
Prediction: 1 Irish win 2 games before bowing out, or
2. The realization of a dream lost sets in. Harangody and McAlarney challenge the rest of the team to actually show up. This fails and the IRISH lose in the 1st round.
ND needs 5 players on the floor.
A big disappointment. And they must go far or it will be an even bigger disappointment. What’s worse is you look at some teams that got in the NCAA tournament and you relaize, had the Irish taken care of business in just 3 more games during the regular season, and they’d be there. However, you look at this team and you realize that besides Harongody and McAlarney, there is no mental toughness. McAlarney becomes defendable because there is no reliable 3rd goto guy. You see guys standing around a lot both on defense and offense. One has to wonder if Brey is capable of working with a full group or only with a few guys at a time. Brey is s good coach, but his teams characteristicaly, do not match up well with the classic top team, are 3 point hungry, and weak on defense. Every team with a legitimate shot to go deep in the NCAA has great defense. I think cycles of NCAA bids and bowing out in the 1st or 2nd round with other times goign to the NIT are about what we can expect. Not the end of the world, but now I know why I haven’t been as excited about ND hoops since the 70s.