The debut tournament here at Fighting Irish Wire has moved on to the Elite Eight and without spoiling the results, let me just say what a tremendous job the selection committee did. Think they know a thing or two about the history of Notre Dame football? Clearly you do because your votes reflected their thinking a couple weeks back.
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So here they are, your Sweet 16 results in the Fighting Irish Wire Tournament.
Basilica Region:
’88 Miami rocked ’93 Michigan like a hurricane, 97-3%. Frankly, we’re a bit surprised it was even that close. Catholics vs. Convicts now meets up with the Sugar Bowl win over Florida to end 1991 as the “Cheerios Bowl” escaped with the closest win in round-three, a 57-43 victory over ’18 Michigan.
Grotto Region:
The 1989 season ended with Notre Dame knocking off No. 1 Colorado in the Orange Bowl and ruining the title dreams of the Buffaloes. Notre Dame’s last Orange Bowl win moved on with a 67-33 win over the ’17 destruction of USC. The second-seeded “Snow Bowl” over Penn State in ’92 moved on as well as it won nearly 80% of the votes against the ’02 thriller at Michigan State.
Hesburgh Region:
Many think the only game that could potentially play with Catholics vs. Convicts is the ’93 win over Florida State. The ’93 version of “The Game of the Century” rolled in round-three, a 93-7 winner over ’02 Florida State. It meets ’12 Oklahoma who won easily over ’12 Michigan, 82-18.
Golden Dome Region:
The ’88 team concluded with a Fiesta Bowl win over West Virginia that clinched the title. That victory understandably rolled the ’88 opener, an escape over Michigan, 75-25. On the bottom part of the Golden Dome region it was the ’88 regular season finale beating up the ’06 comeback against UCLA, 78-22.
The eight remaining contests now fight for their chance to reach the Final Four. Voting starts Thursday night and will go through Sunday.