NOTRE DAME'S "GOLDEN" OPPORTUNITY

Notre Dame is known for its golden domers, and more for the football then any other sport. I mean, who knew the Irish had a basketball team too?
Well apparently they do, and they are playing some of the best ball in the country. Notre Dame (23-6) will take on the top seed in the Big East when it plays the Georgetown Hoyas at 7 p.m. this evening. Georgetown is the ninth ranked team in the nation, and is looking for a possible one or two seed in the "Big Dance".
Where exactly did the Irish come from? Well, let's take a look. A year ago Notre Dame was plagued by close loss after close loss, and had to rally late just to make it into the Big East tournament. After losing in the first round, the Irish found themselves in the N.I.T where they lost to the eventual champion Michigan Wolverines. But take a look at this. Notre Dame is the fourth best team in the Big East, and has a coach that won top honors in the the conference. And with all the other upsets, primarily in the ACC, the Irish have an opportunity to greatly improve their NCAA Tournament stock. If they finish the job and win the Big East Championship, then we are talking about a Notre Dame team that could be a three or four seed. On the other hand, if it were to lose today then they would probably end up in the six or seven range. That is a big difference when you have a field that is wide open, with only the top six or seven teams being considered "dominant" and teams you want to avoid. Don't look now, but Notre Dame could make a serious postseason push, that is if it can stop somebody.