How Notre Dame furthered its standing in mock NCAA tournament brackets after 2-1 week
Notre Dame’s three-game week began with a thud against Duke.
It ended with consecutive road wins that put the Irish in position to move into a first-place tie following the Blue Devils’ Monday loss to Virginia. That’s where they are now heading into Wednesday’s home meeting with Louisville (7 p.m. ET, ESPNU). They’re also in most projected NCAA tournament brackets.
BracketMatrix, a composite ranking of more than 110 bracketologists’ latest predictions, has Notre Dame as the final at-large team and a No. 12 seed. All told, 60 of the projected fields on BracketMatrix include the Irish (16-7, 9-3 ACC). They range from updated Monday to updated Feb. 2. The highest projection is a No. 9 seed, and the lowest is a 12 seed.
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Here’s a roundup of where Notre Dame stands in some individual brackets and on some bubble watch lists.
ESPN
Joe Lunardi’s Tuesday update has Notre Dame as the second team in the “last four byes” section and as a No. 11 seed, one spot behind Oregon and ahead of ACC mate Miami and Oklahoma. In his mock bracket, Notre Dame is in the Midwest Region and draws a first-round game against No. 6 seed Xavier in Milwaukee.
CBS Sports
Jerry Palm put Notre Dame as a No. 10 seed in the West Region in his Monday projected field, matched up with No. 7 Wyoming in the first round in Fort Worth, Texas.
Sporting News
Bill Bender’s Tuesday projected seed list has Notre Dame on the No. 11 line and avoiding the First Four. The Irish are the second No. 11 seed, behind Florida and ahead of Oregon and Seton Hall.
[The] Irish played Duke tight and picked up a Quad 1 victory [at Miami] last week,” Bender wrote. “The Irish need to keep winning to offset the low NET rating.”
On3
Eric Prisbell’s most recent projected seed list, updated Tuesday, has Notre Dame as a No. 12 in the First Four. Miami, Florida and Creighton are the other three members of his “last four in.”
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The Athletic Bubble Watch
Eamonn Brennan’s Bubble Watch lists Notre Dame in the “work to do” category, which the Irish might occupy for the rest of the year because their remaining ACC schedule is light on chances for strong wins and ripe with taut tripwire. They debuted in Bubble Watch just last week.
“Credit where it’s due: Notre Dame keeps on winning,” Brennan wrote. “It is only because this league is where it is this year that the Irish have been able to start 9-3 in ACC play and win 13 of their last 16 games overall (including victories over Kentucky and North Carolina) and not establish themselves as anything more than a bubble team, though Notre Dame’s own start didn’t really help.
“Last week’s win at NC State was nice enough, but Wednesday’s win at Miami was the big one — a true road victory against another ACC team vying for an at-large berth, and a great bounce-back from getting skunked at home by Duke.”
ESPN Bubble Watch
John Gasaway’s first Bubble Watch of the season also slots Notre Dame in the “work to do” category.
“When Notre Dame beat Kentucky by four in South Bend in early December, it was taken as a sign that something was wrong with the Wildcats,” Gasaway wrote. “Now we know the Fighting Irish had just posted their first victory in a 13-3 run of very good basketball. That run hasn’t necessarily shown up yet in the team’s 60-something NET ranking, but Mike Brey’s group clocks in about 30 spots higher than that in terms of strength of record.
“That profile has lifted the Irish into the ‘last four in’ territory in a number of projected brackets, an ascent that has been powered by defense. Yes, Notre Dame is customarily known for offense, but in 2022, newcomer Blake Wesley and his veteran teammates are holding opponents to a bare minimum of 3-point attempts.”
Notre Dame quick facts
Record: 16-7, 9-3 ACC (tied for first place)
NET ranking: 61
KenPom ranking: 64
Quadrant 1 record: 2-5
Quadrant 2 record: 3-1
Quadrant 3 record: 6-1
Quadrant 4 record: 4-0
(Notre Dame’s Nov. 23 win over Division II Chaminade is not counted in the NCAA’s quadrant system).