Category: Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament

Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament: ’05-06 Irish Upset ’08-09 Irish in Opener

The Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament already has an upset after one game.

The Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament already has an upset after one game. The 13th-seeded 2005-06 Irish squeaked by the 12th-seeded 2008-09 Irish, 68-65, to open the first round. Like all great college basketball games, this one came down to the wire.

After leading for much of the first half, the ’05-06 Irish fell behind by eight at halftime. From there, they came back to take the lead, but the ’08-09 Irish stayed on their tail to the point where the game was tied at 65 with over two minutes to play. The score stayed there until Kyle McAlarney was fouled with 52 seconds left and hit two free throws to make it 67-65. Torin Francis then tipped away a jump hook from Tyrone Nash on the other end, and Rob Kurz came up with it, allowing the ’05-06 Irish to burn some clock.

After Russell Carter missed a shot, Francis collected the offensive rebound and got the ball back to Carter, who was fouled and had a chance to ice the game with two free throws with eight seconds left. Carter made the first shot, but missed the second, and Luke Harangody got the rebound, giving the ’08-09 Irish one chance to force overtime. Harangody missed a straightaway 3 at the buzzer, and the oldest Irish team in the field was able to celebrate. They will play the fifth-seeded 2016-17 Irish in the second round.

Chris Quinn led the ’05-06 Irish with 17 points, and Carter was just behind him with 15. Francis just missed out on a double-double with nine points and 13 rebounds. Kurz came up short on double figures in both of those categories at eight points and nine boards.

Harangody’s 21-point, 17-rebound effort for the ’08-09 Irish went to waste, as did a 12-point game from Tory Jackson.

Notre Dame: Fighting Irish Wire Daily Recap (Edition 6)

Brian Kelly spoke about the latest on all things Notre Dame. Find out the headlines from all things related to Notre Dame sports here!

Brian Kelly met the media on Wednesday afternoon in a very non-traditional way.  That meant for quite a bit of football news. If interested you can hear what Kelly said in his entire 30+ minute press conference held through Zoom.  Or you can check out the latest on where things stand with the Navy/Ireland game this August.

Otherwise in football news we saw Cole Kmet get graded the best tight end by another draft outlet.  Jeff Feyerer has all of the information on that and offers his thoughts on the good and bad of Kmet as a draft prospect.

Jeff is also looking forward to Saturday night as ND Replay this weekend will feature an epic-finish to cap off the home Notre Dame careers of Mirer, Bettis and Brooks.  Jeff speaks for many around my age in saying how important “The Snow Bowl” was in forming a fandom.

In other news, some athletic directors are looking to expand the College Football Playoff and former Notre Dame star Jaylon Smith drew praise for his high school days as he was named a top-100 recruit of the last decade.

And finally – Geoffrey Clark has started a fun way in determining the best Mike Brey coached team of the last 15 years in basketball.  He’s using a simulation system to run his tournament and he began profiling the 15 teams in it Wednesday.  Follow everything related to that simulated tournament here over the next couple weeks.

Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament: No. 14 Seed – 2013-14 Irish

For the first 13 years under Mike Brey, Notre Dame never missed out on either the NCAA tournament or the NIT.

For the first 13 years under Mike Brey, Notre Dame never missed out on either the NCAA tournament or the NIT. With that kind of record, Brey’s luck was due to run out at some point. It came during the 2013-14 season, the Irish’s first in the ACC.

Even before the growing pains of playing in a new conference began, the Irish started 9-4, which is a step down compared to the other teams we’ve previewed so far, and lost leading scorer Jerian Grant for the season after he was declared academically ineligible. Things momentarily looked up after they squeaked by Jabari Parker and Duke in their first ACC contest. However, it was all downhill after that, and they finished 15-17. It was the first time they had ended with a record below .500 and missed out on a postseason tournament in 15 years.

Without Grant and the 19.0 scoring average he achieved before being forced to leave the team, the Irish struggled to find another go-to player. Eric Atkins, Pat Connaughton and Garrick Sherman all averaged between 13.5 and 13.9 points a game, which made for good balance. However, there was a big drop-off after that, and the results were predictable. Fortunately for the Irish, their best days in years lay straight ahead.

Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament: No. 11 Seed – 2017-18 Irish

Notre Dame had reason to believe the 2017-18 season would build on the success of the recent past.

Notre Dame had reason to believe the 2017-18 season would build on the success of the recent past, which included six NCAA tournaments in the previous seven years. It was ranked 14th in the preseason poll, and in the early part of the schedule, it upset No. 6 Wichita State to win the Maui Invitational. Ultimately, the Irish went 10-3 in nonconference play, ascending their ranking to as high as fifth.

The Irish won their first three ACC games, but by the time conference play had begun, they were out of the rankings, perhaps as an omen of things to come. After that 3-0 start to ACC play, they lost seven straight, and the wins that followed ultimately were too little, too late. In spite of this, they remained a bubble team for the NCAA tournament until the end, and it earned them a top seed in the NIT. After defeating Hampton in the first round, they lost to Penn State in the second to finish 21-15.

Bonzie Colson and Matt Farrell were the senior leaders for this group. Colson averaged a double-double of 19.7 points and 10.1 rebounds a game, while Farrell ended up with 16.3 points and a team-high 5.5 assists a game. T.J. Gibbs and Martinas Geben rounded out the top scorers with respective scoring averages of 15.3 and 11.1.

Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament: No. 15 Seed – 2018-19 Irish

Notre Dame hasn’t had many lean seasons since Mike Brey took over, but as far as badness, the 2018-19 Irish take the cake.

Notre Dame hasn’t had many lean seasons since Mike Brey took over, but as far as badness, the 2018-19 Irish take the cake. That’s not to say they didn’t have the talent to compete, at least at the start of the season. The team was ravaged by injuries, particularly a torn ACL for Rex Pflueger, and that made it impossible for them to compete in a top-heavy ACC.

As is typical for them, the Irish had a good nonconference showing at 10-3. But with their depth suddenly thin, once conference play began, they never got anything going. Losing streaks of five and seven gave them an ACC record of 3-15, their worst conference showing since going 4-14 in their inaugural Big East campaign in 1995-96. They salvaged a win in the conference tournament over Georgia Tech before Louisville ended their season in the next round and brought their final overall record to 14-19, their worst since going 14-16 in John MacLeod’s last season in 1998-99.

In spite of the team’s troubles, John Mooney averaged a double-double with 14.1 points and 11.2 rebounds a game. T.J. Gibbs averaged 13.4 points a game, and D.J. Harvey had a scoring average of 10.7 in his final season with Notre Dame before transferring to Vanderbilt. In Pflueger’s absence, the Irish went through a revolving door for the fifth player in their starting lineup, which was consistent otherwise.

The Irish committed the fewest fouls in the country (455) and the third-fewest turnovers (306). Opponents realized they were facing a team that wasn’t going to beat itself, but they mostly won anyway.

Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament: No. 10 Seed – 2019-20 Irish

I’ve written so much about the most recent iteration of Notre Dame basketball that it seems redundant to say anything else about it.

I’ve written so much about the most recent iteration of Notre Dame basketball that it seems redundant to say anything else about it, so I’ll just go over a few key points.

The 2019-20 Irish had all the makings of a team threatening to make the NCAA tournament after a two-year absence. However, one close ACC loss after another derailed those hopes. It wouldn’t have mattered what the deficit was in the eyes of the selection committee. All they would have seen was a weak resume unworthy of earning an at-large bid.

The Irish weren’t terrible, however, as their win over Boston College in their ACC tournament opener gave them a 20-12 record and stronger consideration for an NIT bid. Then, COVID-19 put a stop to everything, so we’ll never know where Notre Dame might have ended up once they left Greensboro. Like all college basketball players, the ones on this team will have to spend the rest of their lives playing the what-if game.

With averages of 16.2 points and 12.7 rebounds a game, John Mooney tied Luke Harangody for most double-doubles by a Notre Dame player in a single season with 25 and also led the nation in that category. T.J. Gibbs and Prentiss Hubb averaged 13.3 and 12.1 points a game, respectively, and Dane Goodwin was a formidable sixth man thanks to his scoring average of 10.8.

In spite of their inability to close games, the Irish were a very intelligent team. They committed the fewest fouls in the country (397) and had the sixth-fewest turnovers (315). As we’ll see throughout this bracket, this has been a common trend under Mike Brey.

Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament: No. 13 Seed – 2005-06 Irish

The oldest team in our tournament field, the 2005-06 Irish gave fans something to talk about early by jumping out to a 9-2 record.

The oldest team in our tournament field, the 2005-06 Irish gave fans something to talk about early by jumping out to a 9-2 record with the nonconference schedule. At the beginning of Big East play, Notre Dame nearly took down a then-perfect Pittsburgh team before falling in double overtime. The Irish never recovered from that as they ended up losing eight of their first nine conference games. Amazingly, their record never fell below .500, and despite being one-and-done in the Big East tournament, they earned an NIT spot.

Notre Dame made its mark in the first round of the NIT with a win at home over Vanderbilt. It traveled to Michigan for the second round and lost to the eventual tournament runner-up by three in double overtime. Playing beyond regulation time was not kind to the Irish this season as they dropped all five games that required longer than 40 minutes.

Chris Quinn was the big player on this team as he led the Irish in both scoring (17.7) and assists (6.4). Notre Dame also got double-digit scoring averages from Colin Falls (13.8), Russell Carter (11.5) and Torin Francis (11.6), who also was the team leader in rebounds (9.4). Six players started at least 10 games this season, and seven started at least nine.

Paced by Falls’ 102 field goals from beyond the arc and 70 from Quinn, the Irish were fifth in 3-point field-goal percentage (.403) and sixth in 3-pointers made (288).

Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament: No. 12 Seed – 2008-09 Irish

Fresh off Luke Harangody’s Big East Player of the Year campaign, Notre Dame entered 2008-09 anticipating a big season.

Fresh off Luke Harangody’s Big East Player of the Year campaign, Notre Dame entered 2008-09 anticipating a big season. The national writers agreed, ranking the Irish ninth in the AP preseason poll. At first, the Irish rewarded the writers’ faith with a 9-2 nonconfernce record and a 3-1 start to Big East play. The ranking ascended to as high as seventh.

Unfortunately, the bottom fell out once the tough part of the Big East schedule began as the Irish lost their next seven games, six of them against ranked teams, and the final deficit in each never was closer than seven points. Somehow, the Irish recovered enough to earn an NIT berth, and they made the most of it. They won their first three tournament games in South Bend before falling to Penn State in the semifinals at Madison Square Garden. At 21-15, things certainly could have gone a lot worse.

Averaging 23.3 points and 11.8 rebounds a game, Harangody broke LaPhonso Ellis’ program record for most double-doubles in a season (25) and became the sixth Notre Dame player to reach 400 rebounds in a season (401). This season was the last for seniors Luke Zeller, Ryan Ayers, Zach Hillesland and Kyle McAlarney, all of whom were key cogs in the rotation for their farewell tour. Tory Jackson was the team’s best passer with 4.9 assists a game to compliment a 10.6 scoring average.

Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament: Introduction

Nick Shepkowski had a brilliant idea to fill the void left by sports during the time that would have been March Madness.

Nick Shepkowski had a brilliant idea to fill the void left by sports during the time that would have been March Madness. The 2020 Best Game Tournament was terrific, and we hope you had fun reminiscing about the best Notre Dame football games since 1986. Now, it’s time for a different kind of tournament that shifts the focus from the gridiron to the hardwood. Welcome to the Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament.

For the most part, Mike Brey has coached quality basketball teams in South Bend. As the head of the program, it’s a given he thinks far less about the past than about his next recruit. But in these times, we fans only can think about the past to get our sports fix. To that end, we’ve constructed a single-elimination bracket featuring every Irish team since the 2005-06 season and seeded them by overall winning percentage.

As you might have figured out from looking at this image, this tournament will be conducted in the same way as the ACC tournament. The lowest seeds will battle each other in the first round for the right to face the next tier of Irish teams in the second round. The top four Irish teams of this era have automatic quarterfinal berths. This is better and more exciting than just giving the 2014-15 Irish a first-round bye, and it allows for more competition.

The games will be decided using the simulation tool WhatIfSports.com, which is fantastic if you’ve ever wanted to pitch historical teams against each other. It allows users to do this for the four major North American professional sports leagues, Football Bowl Subdivision teams and Division I basketball teams. In the case of college basketball, the site allows to select games to be played on the home team’s floor at a neutral site. Even though these are all Notre Dame teams, these games will be played on neutral courts in the spirit of power conference tournaments.

Every day, one game will be simulated and recapped. Names you might have forgotten about will come back to your memory, and some of them might even become heroes in these games. And if anyone has a problem with one team defeating another team, well, blame the computer program and not us.

Let virtual April Madness begin!