Photos of Notre Dame’s ACC Tournament championship win vs. NC State

Relive a memorable day in program history.

Notre Dame will remember this one for a long time. Not everybody believed the Irish would be the last team standing at the end of the ACC Tournament, but it happened with a 55-51 victory over NC State. Both the Irish and Wolfpack played only six players, but the Irish only had seven available because of injuries. That’s what makes this accomplishment even more special.

Coupled with an eight-game winning streak, it’s impossible to think the Irish won’t host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament as a top-four seed now. ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme even said afterwards that they should be locked in as a No. 3 seed now. They’ve answered every challenge late in the season, and the selection committee has no reason not to consider them as a host.

Whatever happens for the rest of the season, the Irish always will have this moment. Here are the images from an afternoon that will stick with them:

Notre Dame moves up to No. 3 seed in latest ESPN bracketology

You want want to start making plans to be at Purcell Pavilion in a couple of weeks.

Notre Dame has become impossible to ignore during its seven-game winning streak late in the season. Because of it, all signs point to the Irish hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament as a top-four seed. Now, simply getting to the ACC Tournament championship game appears to have helped them even more.

ESPN’s Charlie Creme updated his bracketology before the title game and bumped the Irish up to a No. 3 seed. The move was noticeable enough that Creme devoted his paragraph at the top of his bracket to them:

“Notre Dame looks like the best team in the ACC and has reached the championship game of the ACC tournament. With wins over Louisville and Virginia Tech in Greensboro, Notre Dame has jumped to a No. 3 seed. The Irish were just outside looking in during the NCAA tournament selection committee’s two reveals of the top 16 seeds. But now, they’ve won seven in a row since losing to NC State – their opponent in Sunday’s ACC tournament title game. Notre Dame was the biggest mover on a Saturday that saw most of the remaining favorites win and hold their spots.”

For what it’s worth, Her Hoop Stats projected the Irish as a fourth seed in the update it published before the Irish won their semifinal game. Regardless, it would be a shocker at this point if the Irish aren’t an NCAA Tournament host. In that case, there needs to be a serious overhaul of the selection process. Hopefully, that discussion won’t be necessary in a week’s time.

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Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Oregon’s NCAA outlook after loss to Stanford in Pac-12 tournament

Things are looking good for the Oregon women’s basketball team where the NCAA tourney is concerned.

The biggest question on the minds of the Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team is whether they have done enough in order to get into the NCAA tournament.

With a NET ranking of 19, a 17-14 overall record, and wins in three of their last four, the Ducks are squarely on that proverbial bubble. The common thought was that if Oregon had a good showing in the Pac-12 tournament, the Ducks should be in.

The Ducks managed to defeat Washington 52-50 in the opening round and hung with Stanford before going down 76-65. At one point in the third quarter, Oregon was within six of the Cardinal.

Kelly Graves’ team also may need some help from around the country and for now, it seems like that help came in the form of North Carolina State. In the ACC tourney, the Wolfpack stomped Syracuse 83-58. According to ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme, that loss popped the Orange’s bubble and sent the Ducks in.

Being “the last team” in the tournament, Oregon would play in the First Four, which is held March 15-16. Unfortunately for the Ducks, all they can do is wait and see and hopefully things continue to fall their way. The brackets are announced Sunday, March 12 on ESPN.

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See who is battling USC women’s basketball for final NCAA Tournament spots in ESPN bracketology

Missouri, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Georgia, and Virginia are some of the other bubble teams near USC in the latest ESPN bracketology forecast by Charlie Creme.

The USC Trojans women’s basketball team is coming off a stunning win against No. 2 Stanford on Sunday.

Lindsay Gottlieb has turned things around for USC in just her second season as head coach, and suddenly USC is being discussed as an NCAA Tournament team.

After the win against Stanford, the Trojans were one of the last four byes in the latest bracketology by Charlie Creme of ESPN.

Stanford is still projected as a one-seed in the field.

As for USC, the Trojans are listed as an 11-seed and facing Baylor in the first round in the same region as Stanford.

Creme’s latest bracketology has a total of eight teams from the Pac-12: Stanford, USC, Colorado, Oregon, Washington State, UCLA, Arizona, and Utah.

USC has a 13-4 record and a 3-3 mark in the Pac-12, but being one of the last four byes means they are right on the fence of being in the field.

The Trojans face Washington State on Friday, followed by Washington. After that, they face No. 8 Utah on the road and No. 24 Colorado on the road, so they have a perfect opportunity to improve their resume and essentially lock themselves into the Big Dance.

Let’s see if they can keep winning games.

Check out which teams are battling USC for bubble position. You will want to root against those teams in the coming weeks.

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