Newsstand: Notre Dame baseball will not host an NCAA Tournament Regional
It came as a shock to nearly everyone, including those outside of the Notre Dame sphere. On Sunday night, the NCAA Baseball Committee announced 16 Regional host sites for the upcoming tournament, and the Irish were excluded.
As of Sunday, Notre Dame was No. 14 in the RPI. The Irish had a 14-7 record against RPI top-50 teams, went 16-11 in the ACC in regular season play, and reached the ACC Tournament semifinals. They lost to eventual champion North Carolina. Notre Dame was widely considered to be a lock when it came to hosting a Regional, and they were teetering on the brink of being a top-8 team.
Instead they will travel to play in this year’s tournament.
Entering last weekend, Notre Dame had the fourth-best winning percentage in the nation since 2020, trailing only Tennessee, Arkansas and UC Santa Barbara. Current head coach Link Jarrett took over the program that year, and the Irish have gone 80-29 under him.
Notre Dame was the No. 10 seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament after winning the regular season ACC title and losing in pool play in the conference tournament. They find themselves on the outside of where many expected them to land in the NCAA tournament once again this year.
The complete list of host schools is as follows: Auburn, East Carolina, Florida, Georgia Southern, Louisville. Maryland, Miami, North Carolina, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Southern Miss, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M and Virginia Tech.
Notre Dame will find out its next stop on Monday along with the other 48 teams not hosting. The selection show will air on ESPN2 at noon ET.
Tweets of the weekend
Camas (Wash.) Union wide receiver and 2022 Notre Dame signee Tobias Merriweather became a Washington state champion in track this weekend. He will arrive in South Bend in June.
While Notre Dame basketball has yet to win a national championship, this tweet from Fox Sports demonstrates the Irish are historically one of the most consistent teams currently in the ACC.
Notre Dame women’s basketball coach Niele Ivey was in Chicago this weekend for a WNBA matchup between the Chicago Sky (4-3) and the Las Vegas Aces (8-1). Former Irish guard Jackie Young is an Aces standout. Las Vegas topped Chicago 83-76 in the contest.
Quote of the weekend
“I’m really trying to use my officials and really enjoy this thing. It’s a one-time thing.”
— 2023 five-star quarterback Dante Moore on his recruitment, commitment timeline
Headlines of the weekend
Five-star QB Dante Moore discusses suitors in his recruitment (Mike Singer, Blue & Gold)
The latest: Four-star WR Christian Hamilton sets official visit with Notre Dame (Mike Singer, Blue & Gold)
Meet the Notre Dame Fighting Irish class of 2023 commitments (Mike Singer, Blue & Gold)
What is most vital to Notre Dame football winning its next national championship? (Tyler Horka, Blue & Gold)
How Notre Dame has cautiously navigated roster turnover this offseason (Tyler Horka, Blue & Gold)
Countdown to kickoff: Notre Dame vs. Ohio State only 98 days away (Todd Burlage, Blue & Gold)
Notre Dame cracks top 10 in Athlon Sports’ 2022 top team rankings (Ashton Pollard, Blue & Gold)
Countdown to kickoff: Notre Dame vs. Ohio State only 97 days away (Ashton Pollard, Blue & Gold)
Notre Dame falls to North Carolina 7-2 in ACC semifinals, turns attention toward NCAA Tournament (Ashton Pollard, Blue & Gold)
CBS Sports makes case for why Marcus Freeman has ‘longest leash’ of any coach from 2022 carousel (Stephen Samra)
