Yes, it’s way too early to be thinking about the 2022 NCAA Tournament, but that hasn’t stopped college basketball fans from doing so. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi is one of them, and he’s released his latest Bracketology. Notre Dame fans undoubtedly want to forget about the 11-15 season they just experienced, but they’ll be pleased to know that Lunardi has the next iteration of the Irish as one of the last teams to make the tournament without having to play in the First Four. Specifically, he lists the Irish as a No. 10 seed against Indiana, so maybe the Crossroads Classic will serve as a preview for March?
Lunardi has good reason to be bullish about Notre Dame, which will receive a boost from Yale transfer Paul Atkinson and South Bend natives J.R. Konieczny and Blake Wesley. The Irish also will return their top three scorers from the past season as seniors: Prentiss Hubb, Nate Laszewski and Dane Goodwin. This is a program desperate for good things as it hasn’t made the Big Dance since 2017. Fortunately, there’s reason to think that those good things are close ahead.