News Archive on Notre Dame University

Big East Basketball Displays Its Dominance

Saturday, March 13th, 2010

If you are a college basketball fan and haven’t tuned in for this year’s Big East tournament, its time to stop calling yourself a college basketball fan.  After four days and fourteen games, West Virginia and Georgetown will square off this evening for the Big East tourney crown and the automatic bid to the NCAA.  It wraps up perhaps the most highly competitive league championship tournament in NCAA history.

Greg Monroe Leads 8th-Seeded Georgetown To The Big East Championship Game

Let’s take a moment to review some of the highlights of the tournament:

  • Saint Johns blowing Connecticut off the floor to register the first upset of the tournament, 73-51, and ensuring that Connecticut will not be dancing this March.
  • Seton Hall blowing a 29 point second half lead with 13:36 left to Providence and escaping with an unbelievable 109-106 victory in a matchup of amazing offensive basketball.
  • Cincinnati nailing its free throws with 1.8 seconds left to seal a 69-68 victory over Rutgers.
  • Marquette squeaking by Saint Johns 57-55 in a back and forth second-half brawl.
  • Cincinnati outrebounding Louisville 54-33 (with 28 offensive boards) to stave off and register a 69-66 upset
  • Georgetown shocking top-seeded Syracuse 91-84 as Syracuse watched it’s big man Arinze Onuaku carried off the floor due to a knee injury.
  • Marquette upsetting Villanova 80-76 with some late scoring success, dropping in 50 points in the second half.
  • Notre Dame upsetting Pittsburgh 50-45, making its free throws down the stretch to pull out the victory.
  • West Virginia hitting a three pointer at the buzzer to beat Cincinnati 54-51  after an unbelievable turnover that gave the Mountaineers the one extra opportunity for the win.
  • Georgetown upsetting and demolishing Marquette 80-57.
  • West Virgina winning another last minute heartstopper over Notre Dame 53-51.

All this and they still didn’t play the championship game yet.  It almost makes you feel bad for the kids on Georgetown and West Virginia as it is almost impossible for tonight’s game to live up to what has transpired in the tournament thus far.

The results of the Big East tournament this weekend are bound to lead to much controversy when the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee announces the brackets Sunday night.  There are those that will complain that the Big East is getting too many spots.  There are others that will disagree and say the Big East is being not being represented enough.

After watching this tournament, I have to side with the latter part of the argument.  It is expected that the Big East will likely send just 8 of its teams to the NCAA tournament this year.  Given the quality of basketball displayed in Madison Square Garden this week, it is a gross injustice that at-large bids will be granted to bubble teams from other major conferences that simply aren’t deserving.

Let’s take at the list of teams that are on the bubble and will likely be dancing in March:

  • Illinois
  • Minnesota
  • Washington
  • Arizona State
  • Ole Miss
  • Virgina Tech
  • Georgia Tech

If any of these teams played in the Big East, they’d likely be the 12th seed or lower in the conference.   Most would make the case that the Big East #12 team, Connecticut would handily defeat this group of bubble teams on a consistent basis.  These bubble teams will get the nod over South Florida, Seton Hall and Cincinnati simply because they performed better in drastically weaker leagues.

Lets take a look at the Pac-10 for example.  Here is a league that will no doubt get three participants in the NCAA Tourney despite being less competitive than the MAAC or Horizon leagues.  If you took Siena, Northern Iowa or Butler and placed them in the Pac-10 this year, they win the league championship handily.  But they will get multiple at-large bids at the expense of the Big East teams.

Arizona State is the 2nd rated team in the Pac-10.  Looking back at their season, they played three tough out-of-conference games against Duke, Baylor and BYU, losing every game.  Washington played Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Georgetown.  The only game they won was against Texas A&M and that really had nothing to do with Washington, as that was the game A&M star Derrick Roland snapped his leg in half in a horrific injury that completely shocked the whole Aggies team.

Then you have Pac-10 champion California.  Here is their resume out of conference.  Blown off the court by Syracuse.  Handled with relative ease by Ohio State.  Spanked by Kansas.  Beaten by New Mexico.   Their only quality non-conference win came against Iowa State whom came in 11th place in the Big 12.

Be assured, the Pac-10 will get three representatives in the NCAA tournament regardless of how bad this conference has been this year.  While California, Arizona State and Washington get undeserving invites to the Big Dance, South Florida, Cincinnati and Seton Hall will likely be playing in the NIT.

Lets hope that the NCAA Tournament Selection Committtee was watching the same basketball games the rest of us were viewing this week in New York City and awards 11 invites to the Big East and sends the message to conferences like the Pac-10 to improve their games or don’t expect to get invited.

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Posted in Arizona State University, California Cal University, Cincinnati University, College Basketball, Depaul University, Georgetown University, Georgia Tech University, Illinois University, Louisville University, Marquette University, Minnesota University, Notre Dame University, Ole Miss University, Pittsburgh University, Providence University, Rutgers University, Seton Hall University, St Johns University, Syracuse University, University South Florida, Villanova University, Washington University, West Virginia University | 6 Comments »

College Coaching Carousel Deflates National Signing Day

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

Put yourself in a set of different shoes.  You are 17 years old and receiving the attention of top NCAA college football coaches around the country.  You narrow down your choices, you take your maximum three campus visit and make a verbal decision to attend that school.  Then you get a 1oPM phone call from the assistant coach that recruited you who informs you that the head coach is leaving and we’re all going with him.  Want to come with us?

Kiffin Ditched Vols For USC

That was the real world awakening this past January for those kids recruited to play at Tennessee.  Coach Lane Kiffin chose to head off to take over Southern Cal and his assistant coach Ed Orgeron was now telling the very same kids why they should play for Tennessee  just a few days before why they shouldn’t go there now and why USC was the best choice.

Its a nasty party of the college football game and it is a tragedy that 17 year old kids are being caught up in the middle of it.  As college coaches pressure these kids to commit early, graduate in December before your classmate and get yourself to campus for spring practice, those very same coaches are thinking about their next career stop without regard to the kids and parents to whom  promises were made in their living room.

Tomorrow is signing day for recruits, but for some what was supposed to be a joyous occasion has gone sour.  Since the completion of the regular season, 22 coaches are no longer with their respective teams.   Some coaches were fired for performance, others chose to seek out better positions and a few displayed gross misbehavior towards their athletes that sent them packing.  In their wake are the kids now figuring out what to do.

Let’s take the story of Cleo Robinson, as reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer.  An outside linebacker from Haddon Township, NJ, Robinson gave an early commitment to play at Louisville.  Robinson choose Louisville partly because it was the first school to offer him a scholarship and they did so before his senior season.  Robinson never visited the campus of the school.

In late November, Louisville fired its head coach Steve Kragthorpe after three rough seasons.  Kragthorpe made an opportunistic decision to jump from his successful position at Tulsa for opportunity to play in the Big East for a BCS bowl bid.  He replaced another opportunity job seeker named Bobby Petrino who jumped for a job in the NFL and then jumped again during the middle of the season to Arkansas.  A whole lot of hopping going round.

Kragthorpe ended up losing a portion of the recruiting class that Petrino had pulled together and was hampered with a group of players brought in to fit a system that was no longer going to be employed.  While Kragthorpe was able to keep the juniors on the team from departing for the NFL, everything sputtered and the Cardinals fell flat.  Some of those kids lost NFL opportunities because of the coaching shakeup.  Kragthorpe was eventually fired and replaced by Florida University assistant Charlie Strong, who’ll likely be looking for new digs back in the SEC if he generates any success with the Cardinals over his first three seasons.

For Cleo Robinson, he was left in the lurch. With the head coach gone and the system to be employed, Robinson did the smart thing and rescinded his scholarship.  He did so with a lot at risk.  Most other schools have filled their recruiting dance cards and are no longer in market.  Unless you are a blue chip recruit, the decision Robinson made is terribly risky.  Robinson recently committed to Stanford after an official visit, where he will play under head coach Jim Harbaugh.  The irony…Harbaugh has been tied to more head coaching jobs than you can shake a stick at.

So where does the student athlete’s welfare come in?  The student gets pressured to live up to his commitment, he goes to the school, hates it and then transfers out losing a year of eligibility. How do we offer the student more flexibility if the situation around him changes before he even enters his dorm room?

The NCAA needs to begin rethinking the arcane structure that surrounds the recruiting process to eliminate the damage being done by coaches that are looking at the kids as their meal ticket.  When coaches begin calling recruits telling them not to attend class so they can play football at their school, you know something has going horribly wrong with the system.

School

Out

In

Akron

J.D. Brookhart

Rob Ianello

Buffalo

Turner Gill

Jeff Quinn

Cincinnati

Brian Kelly

Butch Jones

Central Michigan

Butch Jones

Dan Enos

East Carolina

Skip Holtz

Ruffin McNeill

Florida State

Bobby Bowden

Jimbo Fisher

Kansas

Mark Mangino

Turner Gill

Kentucky

Rich Brooks

Joker Phillips

Louisville

Steve Kragthorpe

Charlie Strong

Louisiana-Monroe

Charlie Weatherbie

Todd Berry

Louisiana Tech

Derek Dooley

Sonny Dykes

Marshall

Mark Snyder

John Holliday

Memphis

Tommy West

Larry Porter

Notre Dame

Charlie Weis

Brian Kelly

San Jose State

Dick Tomey

Mike MacIntyre

Southern California

Pete Carroll

Lane Kiffin

South Florida

Jim Leavitt

Skip Holtz

Tennessee

Lane Kiffin

Derek Dooley

Texas Tech

Mike Leach

Tommy Tuberville

UNLV

Mike Sanford

Bobby Hauck

Virginia

Al Groh

Mike London

Western Kentucky

David Elson

Willie Taggart

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Posted in Cincinnati University, East Carolina University, Florida State University, Kansas University, Kentucky University, Louisiana Tech University, Louisville University, Marshall University, Memphis University, Notre Dame University, San Jose State University, Southern Cal University, Tennessee University, Texas Tech University, UNLV Nevada Las Vegas University, University South Florida, Virginia University, college football | No Comments »

Big Ten Conference Expanding, Who Will It Be?

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
Big Ten Conference Looking To Expand

Big Ten Conference Looking To Expand

Officials from the Big Ten, as reported by ESPN, announced that a committee has been formed to explore the addition of a twelfth team to join the conference. The committee will explore options over a 12-18 month period.  The Big Ten last expanded in 1989 when it added Penn State to the conference.  Exploratory conversations were had with Notre Dame in 1999, but their inclusion never transpired.

The call for expansion comes on the heels of the recently completed football season.  Each season, the Big Ten concludes two weeks prior to all other conference championship games.  The early season ending hurts the Big Ten visibility with recruits and can often leave the conference irrelevant when they are on hiatus.  More importantly, the Big Ten loses out on big broadcasting rights and sponsorship deals given their inability to hold a conference championship.

The question that is bouncing around is who is on the list of consideration and why?

Notre Dame

The obvious first candidate for consideration.  Everyone wants Notre Dame to join their conference.  The are a great addition due both to athletic program quality and educational prowess.   The Irish have traditionally been noted to get top recruiting classes, but the recruits are not translating into wins on the field.   Joining the Big Then would create an immediate impact in getting real blue chippers to come to South Bend.  By joining the Big East for all other sports, the Irish have seen improvements across the board in performance and success.  Given the lucrative TV contract that Notre Dame can still command, its unlikely that we’ll see Notre Dame join and give up that revenue.  They gotta cut those checks to Charlie Weis for quite a few more years.

Pittsburgh

Pitt seems like the most practical choice.  Not really one of the “Big East” notables, Pitt has flown under the radar for years in the conference despite its consistent success in basketball and football.  From a recruiting standpoint, the are right in the mix with Big Ten teams given their proximity.  More importantly, they have an instant rivalry in Penn State upon their joining the league.

Boise State

The athletic program at Boise State has probably displayed the most growth of any over the past decade.  The school puts it football, basketball and wrestling teams into the conversation every year.  With no true rivals out in Idaho, joining the Big Ten would reward this school for its progress and success across the board.  They are the feel good story of the NCAA.  And think about the fan interest it would generate on the West Coast for the Big Ten to enter the Great Northwest.  The Rose Bowl would become a much bigger bowl game draw.

Syracuse

The once great football power is limping on its way to death.  Since the departure of Miami, Boston College and Virginia Tech, the football squad has suffered from an inability to generate recruits due to the loss of its biggest rivalry matchups.  Football has historical importance to this school and becoming relevant again would happen with a jump to the Big Ten.  For the Big Ten, they get a premier basketball squad that can help make their basketball conference relevant again.  Good payoffs for both sides.

Nebraska

The Cornhuskers should be desperate to get out of the Big 12.  Since joining, they have become irrelevant in every sports and lost their annual rivalry game with Oklahoma due to the splitting of the conference into North-South.  A jump out the Big 12 would give Nebraska new life.  For football, they become the talk of the town and recruiting would go skyward.   For basketball, they are immediately playing their way into the NCAA tourney every year, both women and men.  Volleyball, gymnastics and wrestling all fit in nicely with the Big 10 as well.  You split the conference East and West with the dividing line at the Indiana border.  And when they bolt, TCU finally gets its invite to the Big 12.

If I was a betting man, I’d like my money on Nebraska.  Second choice goes to Pitt.  Notre Dame is not going to join because they want the football TV cash.  Syracuse will show its allegiance to the conference it helped form despite the devastation to its once proud football program.  Boise State, well, they are used to not being the belle at ball.  The expansion is definitely going to happen.  There is big money to be made and the Big Ten is ready to put tradition behind for the cash.

Biggest problem in front of the committee is not what team to chose, it is is what to call the conference.  The Big 12 is already trademarked and calling yourself the Big Ten when you have twelve team makes no sense.   Hope it doesn’t take them another 12-18 months to figure that one out.

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Posted in Boise State University, Boise State University, College Basketball, Illinois University, Illinois University, Indiana University, Indiana University, Iowa University, Iowa University, Michigan State University, Michigan State University, Michigan University, Michigan University, Minnesota University, Minnesota University, Nebraska University, Nebraska University, Northwestern University, Northwestern University, Notre Dame University, Notre Dame University, Ohio State University, Ohio State University, Penn State University, Penn State University, Pittsburgh University, Pittsburgh University, Purdue University, Purdue University, Syracuse University, Syracuse University, Wisconsin University, Wisconsin University, college football | 4 Comments »

Notre Dame’s Rogue Actions Call For NCAA Rule Changes

Friday, December 11th, 2009
Brian Kelly Is All Smiles After Turning His Back On the Cincy Players

Brian Kelly Is All Smiles After Turning His Back On the Cincy Players

After a sensational season led by Tony Pike and Mardy Gilyard, the Cincinnati Bearcats football squad ran the table and are entering the Sugar Bowl undefeated.  Awaiting them is a matchup against last year’s champion Florida Gators and the greatest college football player of all-time, Tim Tebow.  With a blowout victory, they could still lay some claim to being the best team in college football.  It should be a time of celebration for these kids,  Instead, the Fighting Irish decided to be the Grinch.

Notre Dame got its coach.  Brian Kelly got his dream job.  And the Cincinnati football players got screwed.  Something just feels wrong about how all this went down.

Speculation has been building for weeks that Notre Dame would axe its head coach Charlie Weis and aggressively pursue the hottest coaching commodity in college football, Cincinnati’s Brian Kelly.  Notre Dame was mum.  Kelly dismissed the rumors as lies created by the media.  Both sides kept their poker faces as rumors grew louder and louder.  Despite the distractions, the Cincinnati players pulled off a miraculous 45-44 comeback  victory against Pitt to a earn a potential shot at the championship.

After the Pitt game, Gilyard responded to Fanhouse.com that “We ain’t going to lose him.  He ain’t going nowhere. He already addressed the team on that a couple of days ago.  That’s dust under the rug. It’s been popping up everywhere. Coach, he didn’t shy away from it. Coach said, ‘Listen guys, I’m here. I’m here to stay. I like you guys. I like the city. I like my team.’”

Then the BCS announcements were made, Cincinnati was left looking in from the outside as an overrated, undeserving Texas squad took their spot in the big game.  When the championship game opportunity was taken from Kelly, he began his sellout process, took the money and ran.

The worst part is how Kelly and the university officials at Cincinnati handled the affair.  The football squad held their team awards banquet, and at the end of the event announced Kelly’s departure to the team and would be leaving immediately instead of coaching the kids at the Sugar Bowl.   Team MVP Mardy Gilyard and other players stormed out of the banquet in disgust.

Interviewed shortly after the banquet Gilyard’s tune had changed.  Speaking to the Associate Press, Gilyard shared “He went for the money.  I’m fairly disgusted with the situation, that they let it last this long.  I don’t like it.  I feel there was a little lying in the thing. I feel like he’d known this the whole time. Everybody knows Notre Dame’s got the money. I kind of had a gut feeling he was going to stay just because he told me he was going to be here.”

How is this fair to a group of kids whose only consideration offered is a scholarship in return for services that generate millions of dollars for their universities?  The kids have invested their hearts and souls to become champions and their coach turned his back on them for big dollars while the players are restricted from monetary opportunities or they lose their eligibility.

It is time for the NCAA to institute rules around hiring coaches whose teams are still completing their seasons.  In the NFL, teams are not allowed to interview or hire assistant coaches from teams that are currently still in the playoff hunt at season’s end.  Why should college bowl games be given any less consideration.

The NCAA should strongly consider apply similar rules so instances such as this gross misbehavior by Notre Dame and Brian Kelly, driven solely by monetary greed, doesn’t negatively impair the sport and contributions made by these great kids who reap none of the benefits outside of a free education.

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Posted in Cincinnati University, Notre Dame University, college football | 10 Comments »

Irish to Irish

Friday, December 11th, 2009

Notre Dame hired a new coach this week and his name is Brian Kelly. I think that they hired the right guy in their hopes of bringing a winning tradition back to the school. Kelly lead Cincinnati to a perfect 12-0 record this season and a impressive 34-6 over the last three years. Cincinnati is headed to the Sugar bowl against Florida. While I agree that he is the right man for the job, I am not happy that he will not be coaching his team in the game. This is his decision and whether it is not a sound moral decision, it does not take away from the fact that he is a solid coach that has what  it takes to turn around things in South Bend.

Will Brian Kelly bring back winning to the Irish?

Will Brian Kelly bring back winning to the Irish?

Kelly will inspire passion and purpose from his players and will get the most from them when the game is on the line. Cincinnati pulled out close victories against the likes of Connecticut 2, West Virginia 3, and the last minute victory by 1 over Pittsburgh to give them the Big East Championship and a perfect regular season. In contrast, Notre Dame lost a bunch of close games under Charlie Weis. They were defeated by 4 by Michigan, 7 by USC, 2 by Navy, 5 by Pitt and 7 by Stanford. All these games could have been wins.

Kelly will bring that toughness and will to win those close games when the victory is on the line.

Notre Dame is a dismal 16-21 over the last three seasons. Kelly will be looking to improve on that. He does have the cards stacked against him a bit, because Notre Dame loses its QB Jimmy Clausen and his top receiver Golden Tate. He rebuilt Cincinnati. I think he will do the same for the Irish and restore pride and winning back to the school with the golden dome.

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Posted in Cincinnati University, Connecticut University, Florida University, Michigan University, Notre Dame University, Pittsburgh University, Southern Cal University, Stanford University, West Virginia University, college football | No Comments »