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Notre Dame Basketball: Don’t look at the “what ifs” in the ACC Tournament seedings

By Noah Strackbein

Mar 1, 2017; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward V.J. Beachem (3) head coach Mike Brey and guard Steve Vasturia (32) sing the Notre Dame Alma Mater after Notre Dame defeated the Boston College Eagles 82-66 at the Purcell Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 1, 2017; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward V.J. Beachem (3) head coach Mike Brey and guard Steve Vasturia (32) sing the Notre Dame Alma Mater after Notre Dame defeated the Boston College Eagles 82-66 at the Purcell Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /
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Notre Dame basketball has done everything they’ve needed to to reach the ACC Tournament with a high seed. Now, they’re one win away from securing the No. 2 spot in the conference.

After beating Boston College and sending their seniors off with one final win in South Bend and Louisville falling out of contention with a loss to Wake Forest, Notre Dame’s ACC future is in their own hands. Yes, there’s a bunch of “what if” scenarios, but there’s no need to think about them if the Irish are confident enough to win.

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Don’t look at their last game against the Cardinals. What happened when Notre Dame was 13-2 means nothing. In fact, delete the first meeting from your head completely because it’s entirely irrelevant.

There are plenty of scenarios. Notre Dame loses, North Carolina wins, and Miami wins, the Irish are the No. 2/3 seed depending on win percentage with Louisville against teams died for fourth. If the Irish lose and UNC and Florida State win, Notre Dame is the No. 3 seed. If they lose and Duke and Miami win, Notre Dame is the No. 4 seed. And finally, if the Irish lose and Duke and FSU win then Notre Dame is the No. 5 seed.

This is all good to know, but when it comes down to it, the only situation the Irish care about is if they win, they’re the No. 2 seed. For a team as hot as they are right now, losing isn’t even in the back of their minds. Proving everyone who doubted them coming into the season wrong is all they’re concerned about.

This is a team who has eleven players who have been to the Elite Eight at least once. Of those eleven, eight have made the NCAA Tournament run twice throughout their career. With experience like that, this team should have almost zero nerves coming into their final game of the season. When you’ve proven you win in March more than once, you begin to build confidence that goes a long way at this point in the year.

So, there’s no need to look at the what-ifs. There’s no logic behind it. Saying you aren’t thinking about losing doesn’t mean you aren’t going to lose, but who cares. You can’t head into the final and most important game of your regular season thinking about a 50/50 shot at winning. When it comes to something this significant, you play all 40 minutes with the mindset that you cannot and will not lose.

Next: Notre Dame decides fate at Louisville

As fans, everyone is going to be looking at the different ways the ACC standings will play out. But for the Irish, the only thing that matters is a victory. If it doesn’t happen, then they take it from there. Beforehand, though, there’s no point in thinking about the what ifs.