What's at stake for Notre Dame women's basketball against Florida State and beyond
The outlook of the Notre Dame women’s basketball season has changed drastically. That’s what an 18-4 overall mark, a 9-2 ACC start and an upset victory over the No. 3 team in the country will do.
Making the NCAA Tournament is no longer enough for this Fighting Irish team. It might have been before the season started. The Irish haven’t had a winning record since 2018-19 and haven’t played in a tournament game since the same season, after all.
First, just get there. Then, see what you can do.
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That would have been a rational line of thinking for head coach Niele Ivey in October. In February? Not so much. Not after Notre Dame has worked its way into the conversation of teams that could potentially host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament on their own campuses.
The Irish are up to No. 12 in the NET Rankings, their highest spot of the season. The NET is a key factor in determining the tournament field. Sixteen teams host the first and second rounds. It’d be a bit of a head-scratcher if the No. 1`2 team in the NET did not earn a top-four tournament seed.
But there’s a long way to go before entertaining such a hypothetical.
The Irish have six regular season conference games remaining. Three at home, three on the road. The next two are against inferior foes as far as the conference standings are concerned. Sunday’s opponent, Florida State, ranks No. 59 in the NET, and Miami ranks No. 65. Those are both Quadrant 1 games even though they’re against teams with a combined conference record of 9-11.
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Notre Dame has to take advantage of the Q1 opportunities if it wants to remain in the picture as a potential host site. Top of the conference teams don’t lose these types of matchups anyway. Notre Dame is a couple buckets away from being undefeated in the ACC. The Irish lost by two at Duke and by the same margin at Boston College.
Two losses, four points. While obviously aggravating, the narrow losses are a symbol of just how close Notre Dame is to being alone at the top of the ACC standings. Just like old times.
With two games against No. 4 Louisville and one against No. 12 Georgia Tech making up three of Notre Dame’s final four regular season games, the Irish simply can’t afford to lose to the likes of Florida State, Miami and Clemson, who is 1-10 in the ACC. They just can’t.
The Irish’s chances of staying in South Bend and playing at Purcell Pavilion — a venue they have yet to lose a single game at this season (11-0) — in the NCAA Tournament depends on taking care of business against those they should beat and channeling whatever it was that led to a win over NC State in the games against the Cardinals and Yellow Jackets.
Is Notre Dame expected to win all three of those? No. Especially considering two are away from Purcell. But hold serve at home and steal one on the road, and the Irish should still be in business with a top-four seed. But that’s only if they don’t hiccup against the other three.
It’s all right in front of Ivey and company.
No. 20 Notre Dame (18-4, 9-2) at Florida State (10-10, 4-6)
When: Sunday, Feb. 6 at 2 p.m. ET
Where: Donald L Tucker Center (Tallahassee, Fla.)
TV: ACC Network
NET rankings: Notre Dame 12, NC State 59
Last meeting: Notre Dame won 72-64 on Feb. 25, 2021 in South Bend
Series history: Notre Dame leads 11-0
Notes on Florida State: Florida state has had 11 different starting lineups due to injury and illness … Senior guard Morgan Jones ranks fifth in the ACC in scoring with 15.1 points per game … The 6-2 Jones also leads the Seminoles in rebounding with 6.1 per game … Jones is the only Florida State player averaging in double digits in scoring … Florida State ranks No. 116 in the country in scoring offense at 67.9 points per game … The Seminoles ranks No. 114 nationally in scoring defense at 60.3 points per game.
