Notre Dame Basketball: Recent Poor Play Hurts Irish Rankings, Bracketology
By Andrew Hall
The college basketball season is young but the Notre Dame basketball team is in a steady nosedive after losses to Ball State and Indiana.
After a spectacular start, the Irish looked like a Final Four team. However, a lack of rebounding and poor shooting performances doomed Notre Dame. With losses against two unranked opponents, the Fighting Irish find themselves unranked and rapidly dropping in bracket projections.
AP Poll & Coaches Poll
Notre Dame fell out of both polls this week. In the AP Poll, the Irish dropped just outside the Top 25 to 27th. In the Coaches Poll, Notre Dame dropped to 26th or the first “other team(s) receiving votes.”
More from Slap the Sign
- PointsBet Promo: Bet $50, Win an Official Jersey at Fanatics!
- Notre Dame vs NC State: How to watch, odds, injuries, series history and more
- Caesars Indiana Sign-Up Promo: Win $250 GUARANTEED Bonus Betting on Notre Dame This Week!
- FanDuel + DraftKings Indiana Promos: Bet $10 on Notre Dame, Win $400 Bonus GUARANTEED!
- New Caesars + DraftKings Indiana Promos: $450 GUARANTEED Bonus Backing Notre Dame vs. Navy!
Obviously, these polls do not mean anything. They do not factor into seeding. The RPI rates Notre Dame as the 95th. Typically, the RPI factors highly into the selection process. Bad news, 95th is not good. Good news, it is December.
BPI, another index produced by ESPN, ranks Notre Dame as the 16th team in the country.
Bracketology
Notre Dame fell in Joe Lundari’s most recent bracketology projection. Lundari currently lists the Irish as a No. 5 seed in the Midwest region. This is Notre Dame’s lowest projection of the year. Since the preseason, the Fighting Irish have bounced anywhere between a No. 2 and No. 4 seed.
Notre Dame’s ACC slate gives the Irish an opportunity to generate more quality wins. As over right now, the victory over Wichita State stand as an excellent win. The Shockers currently rank No. 6 in the BPI rankings.
Who’s Up Next?
The Irish battle Dartmouth and Southeastern Louisiana this week. Dartmouth is one of the worst teams in the country. They rank 346th in the RPI. Southeastern Louisiana ranks slightly higher than the Big Green. Currently, they rank 243th in nation. These are the last two games before Notre Dame begins conference play.