As we welcome in the new year and conference play, things are starting to get real for Notre Dame. The Irish are out of buy games and will need to make a splash in ACC play to make it to March Madness.
Tomorrow night, the Irish have a chance to do just that. Mike Brey and his team will welcome 10-3 North Carolina to South Bend in their third game of league play. Notre Dame will likely have trouble matching Armando Bacot down low, but North Carolina has shown that they are beatable if their opponents are hitting shots and making the Tar Heels operate in their half court offense.
It won't be easy to take care of the Caleb Love led Tar Heels, but if Notre Dame can pull it off, Mike Brey thinks "it'd be huge." If Notre Dame can exit Wednesday night's affair with a win it would be their fourth in a row and their fifth in their last six games. "It'd be something we could really grow out of" Brey says.
He's right. With a win the Irish suddenly have all the momentum in the world heading into two games in which they could be favored. Suddenly the narrative isn't that Kentucky lost to Notre Dame, it's that Notre Dame beat both Kentucky and North Carolina in the span of a few weeks. That's likely two quad one wins on Notre Dame's resume when it's all said and done.
On the other hand, if Notre Dame drops Wednesday's game they may as well be back to square one. A down ACC doesn't present many chances to bolster a bubble team's resume and that's even more apparent with the reality of cancellations and potential COVID pauses.
The season certainly isn't over if the Irish lose, they still have the Kentucky win to hang their hat on, and it is January afterall. But, it becomes a bit harder for the Irish to add to their resume with a loss. Mike Brey's veteran group wouldn't have much margin for error against teams in their wheelhouse.
To make the tournament in a down ACC, Notre Dame would have to finish somewhere in the realm of 11,12 or even 13 conference wins. Getting there after starting league play 1-2 won't be easy.
Tomorrow isn't the end all be all for Notre Dame Men's basketball, but it is certainly a big one for a team with tournament aspirations.
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