Tag: Virginia Tech

Notre Dame moves up to No. 3, No. 4 seeds in updated bracketologies

Alexa, play the theme song to The Jeffersons.

It appears Notre Dame’s wins over Virginia Tech and Louisville are starting to pay off. In two updated bracketologies released Monday, the Irish moved up in their projected seeds to the point where they would host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament if they held true.

ESPN finally bumped the Irish up to a No. 4 seed. College Sports Madness, which already had the Irish as a No. 4, took it a step further and made the Irish a No. 3 seed. Her Hoops Stats and CBS Sports both last updated their bracketologies before the Irish’s last game against the Cardinals.

Splitting the games with the Hokies and Cardinals merely would have kept the Irish’s hopes at a top-four seed alive at best. Instead, they won both games and have become impossible to ignore. Plus, two of three ESPN analysts are picking the Irish to win the ACC Tournament, fueled in part perhaps by a combination of their strong regular-season finish and the suddenly questionable health of Hokies standout Elizabeth Kitley.

March is here, folks. Time for the madness to begin.

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Both weekly ACC rookie honors go to Notre Dame guards

There are some special young players for the Irish.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] and [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] both have turned heads for Notre Dame’s basketball teams this season. The ACC has honored them for that multiple times. Now, for the third time this season, both have been named ACC Rookie of the Week for their respective sports in the same week.

This is the fourth ACC Rookie of the Week honor for Burton, who averaged 26.0 points a game for the week to help beat Wake Forest and Clemson. Hidalgo has won it a conference-record 12 times now, and she also was named ACC Player of the Week after averaging 24.5 points a game in big wins over Virginia Tech and Louisville. She also has been named a finalist for the Nancy Lierberman Award, which is given to the country’s top point guard.

It’s been said before, but with Hidalgo and Burton, the future is looking bright for both Notre Dame basketball teams. We already are seeing it benefit the women, and hopefully, the men will follow suit before too long.

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Women’s basketball national scoring leaders as of March 3 (and steals)

History was made again this past weekend.

Caitlin Clark has reached the scoring mountaintop in college basketball. She passed Pete Maravich’s college scoring total and now is the all-time leader for either men or women. Here’s how far she ranks ahead of the other top 10 scorers in women’s basketball as well as their steals numbers in comparison to national leader [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag]:

ACC women’s basketball leaders as of March 3

Guess who leads for Notre Dame.

Well, we finally have reached March. The spotlight will shine bright on every team from here on out. But nowhere where the spotlight shine brighter than on the players most expected to lead their teams. That includes the ACC’s major statistical leaders, and you can find those players below:

ACC men’s basketball leaders as of March 3

No Notre Dame players on this list.

Well, we finally have reached March. The spotlight will shine bright on every team from here on out. But nowhere where the spotlight shine brighter than on the players most expected to lead their teams. That includes the ACC’s major statistical leaders, and you can find those players below:

Ivey, Hidalgo, Citron, Westbeld speak after Notre Dame win

Hear what the victors had to say about this game.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – There’s no doubt Notre Dame wants to have one or two more games at Purcell Pavilion this season. The Irish have been playing even better lately, most recently with their 74-58 win over Louisville. It all depends on what the NCAA Tournament selection committee thinks of its resume. We’ll save that discussion for another day though.

The discussion right now is this latest victory, which [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] was happy to talk about afterwards. After a win like that though, it wasn’t enough to bring in the usual one or two players. She brought in her three best, and they all deserved it.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] did her usual thing with 26 points, eight rebounds, four assists and six steals. [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] scored 17 points, and [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] had a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Fighting Irish Wire was on hand during this postgame news conference, and here is some of what was said:

Purcell Pavilion sold out for Notre Dame’s home finale vs. Louisville

Hope you’ve got your ticket already.

The Notre Dame women’s basketball team’s final regular-season game will be loud. That can be said definitively because the program posted on social media that Sunday’s contest against Louisville has been sold out:

There likely are several factors playing into this, not the least of which is that the Irish have won four straight games and five of their past six. Fans might also be on a high from the last victory over No. 5 Virginia Tech.

There also is seeding for the ACC Tournament at stake as the outcome likely will determine whether the Irish obtain a double-bye. With a 12-5 conference record, they’re in a three-way tie for third with the Cardinals and NC State. A loss not only would put those double-bye hopes in serious jeopardy, but it also probably would end any remaining chance of obtaining a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Fighting Irish Wire will be on hand to cover this big game. It should be a good one.

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Notre Dame remains No. 5 seed in most latest bracketologies

Sure feels like the Irish are stuck right now.

Notre Dame beat No. 5 Virginia Tech on Thursday, but most bracketologists remain unmoved. A couple of new bracketologies were released Friday, and the Irish remain where they’ve been in those particular ones. ESPN, CBS Sports and NCAA.com all have the Irish as a No. 5 seed, joining Her Hoop Stats from the day before. Only College Sports Madness currently has the Irish as a fourth seed.

Perhaps the biggest warning yet that the Irish might not get to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament came from the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee. In the top 16 it released before Thursday’s game, the Irish were nowhere to be found. The way things are going, that probably wouldn’t have changed even if the rankings had been released after the game.

One now has to wonder if an Irish win over Louisville would be enough to bump them up in the seedings. Are they going to have to win the ACC Tournament to even have a shot at being a tournament host? It sure feels like it right now. We’ll see if they rise to that challenge.

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Commanders release veteran tight end Logan Thomas

The Commanders are moving on from Logan Thomas, too.

The Washington Commanders are moving on from veteran tight end Logan Thomas. On Friday, the team announced it had released tight end Logan Thomas and left tackle Charles Leno Jr.

Thomas, 32, signed a two-year contract with Washington in 2020 and was one of the most successful free-agent moves of the Ron Rivera era. In his first season, Thomas enjoyed a breakout campaign, catching 72 passes for 670 yards and six touchdowns.

Before the 2021 season, the Commanders signed Thomas to a contract extension, but injuries would follow him throughout the next three seasons.

In 2021, a hamstring injury cost him several games, and when he returned, a dirty hit by a Raiders defensive end sidelined him with a torn ACL. Thomas would return for the start of the 2022 season, but he wasn’t the same, at least initially.

He appeared in 16 games last season, catching 55 passes for 496 yards and four touchdowns. In his four seasons in Washington, Thomas appeared in 52 games, with 184 receptions, 1,685 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns.

Coming to Washington was a homecoming for the former Virginia Tech quarterback. Thomas was a record-setting quarterback for the Hokies and came into the NFL as a quarterback. He changed positions a few years into his career and enjoyed success.

Thomas, like Leno, was a beloved locker-room leader.

Watch: Jewell Loyd makes halfcourt shot, advises in Notre Dame return

A program legend was there for a great night.

[autotag]Jewell Loyd[/autotag] will go down as one of the best women’s basketball players ever. In her WNBA tenure with the Seattle Storm, she’s earned two championships, five All-Star selections and her first scoring title just this past season. But her journey to superstardom at the professional level began at Notre Dame, and she returned there for the Irish’s game against No. 5 Virginia Tech.

Before anyone got there, she stepped onto the court at Purcell Pavilion and made a shot from halfcourt like it was nothing:

After the Irish earned a victory over the Hokies that many were not expecting, Loyd met with the Irish and offered advice to the players who undoubtedly remained a high from their upset win:

One of the best players in program history, Loyd always will have a place at Notre Dame. That she came back for the high point of the season to this point makes it better. Hopefully, the Irish won’t have to wait long for her next visit:

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