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Notre Dame Basketball: Where will the Irish seed in the ACC Tournament

By Noah Strackbein

Feb 7, 2017; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Mike Brey (center) talks to his players in the second half against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at the Purcell Pavilion. Notre Dame won 88-81. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 7, 2017; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Mike Brey (center) talks to his players in the second half against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at the Purcell Pavilion. Notre Dame won 88-81. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /
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Notre Dame basketball is in 7-5 in the ACC and with six games left on their schedule, it’s time to start seeing where the Irish will fall in come tournament time.

The Irish may have tampered off since their 5-0 start in the conference. But that doesn’t mean Notre Dame is out of the loop when it comes to the ACC Tournament. With six games left, it’s unlikely they’ll win out the rest of the regular season, but with what they’ve done so far they’ll still be in good shape.

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The problem for the Irish is that they haven’t been able to beat the top teams in the country. 1-6 against ranked opponents, four of those losses coming from ACC teams isn’t a high standing. Once March comes, though, none of the regular season matters. For Notre Dame, they’ve proven that they can compete. Come conference tournament time, they’re going to be one of the toughest teams in the ACC.

Right now, Notre Dame is seventh in the conference. If the tournament started today, the Irish would play the winner of Georgia Tech and Boston College. With one loss to the Yellow Jackets already, Notre Dame may be hoping they play #15 Boston College.

If the ACC Tournament started today, this would be the format:

  • #12 Clemson vs #13 NC State
  • #10 Georgia Tech vs #15 Boston College
  • #11 Wake Forest vs #14 Pittsburgh
  • #8 Miami vs #9 Virginia Tech
  • #5 Louisville vs (Winner of #12/#13)
  • #7 Notre Dame vs (Winner of #10/#15)
  • #6 Duke vs (Winner of #11/#14)
  • #1 Florida State vs (Winner of #8/#9)
  • #4 Syracuse vs (Winner of #5 Louisville and #12/#13)
  • #2 North Carolina vs (Winner of #7 Notre Dame and #10/#15)
  • #3 Virginia vs (Winner of #6 Duke and #11/#14)

There’s still a lot of action left, though. Starting tomorrow, Notre Dame will play ACC leader, Florida State. If the Irish win out the rest of their season, they could be looking at a seed roughly three or four places higher.

On that same hand, Notre Dame is only two games behind first place FSU. By winning out the rest of their schedule, the Irish could find themselves sitting pretty with a first-round bye. If they lose out, they’re in serious danger of falling as far as #15.

Realistically, this isn’t going to happen. Notre Dame will win some and lose some of their final six games and land roughly where they are right now. Which will be good for a team who could use every bit of momentum they can get heading into a game against a top five ACC opponent.

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Notre Dame is going to fine. Tournament time is when this team is meant to turn their play up. They’ve shown they have the ability to get streaky, and when they’re hot, they can compete with anyone.

There’s still some mix up left in the conference. With their schedule giving them a shot at Florida State and Louisville, the Irish could find themselves with a game off in the ACC Tournament.