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Notre Dame basketball: Where Irish fall in recent 2023 Bracketology

By Brad Weiss

DAYTON, OHIO - MARCH 16: Head coach Mike Brey of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish reacts in the first half of the game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights during the First Four game of the 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at UD Arena on March 16, 2022 in Dayton, Ohio. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
DAYTON, OHIO - MARCH 16: Head coach Mike Brey of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish reacts in the first half of the game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights during the First Four game of the 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at UD Arena on March 16, 2022 in Dayton, Ohio. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) /
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The 2022-23 college basketball season is far away, but Notre Dame basketball does have some big expectations in a recent ESPN Bracketology.

The 2021-22 season was an exciting one for the Notre Dame basketball program, as they made it to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. That ended a five-year drought for the program in making the Big Dance, and they did so in style, winning their “First Four” matchup against Rutgers in double overtime, and then upsetting No. 6 Alabama in the first round.

That win against the Crimson Tide was a 14-point blowout, and suddenly, the Irish looked like a legitimate Sweet Sixteen team. Throughout much of the second half of the regular season, Notre Dame basketball was one of the hottest teams in the country, led by a dynamic freshman in Blake Wesley, who would go on to be a first-round pick of the San Antonio Spurs last month.

Now, with Wesley gone, the Irish need to find a way to replace his scoring, and should have another dynamic true freshman in JJ Starling, one of the best high school players in the country. They also have some great players returning, including forward Nate Laszewski, so a dropoff should not be in the cards for this Notre Dame basketball program.

Notre Dame basketball one of the final four in

Looking at Lunardi’s recent bracketology, the Irish will not have to play in the First Four like they did this past season. However, they are right on the bubble, listed as a Final Four Bye team, meaning they are in the group of the last four teams to earn the automatic bid to the Big Dance.

Playing as a No. 11 seed for the second straight year, the Irish would then face rival Michigan in the first round of the West Region according to Lunardi, which would make for an incredible matchup. Like the Irish, the Wolverines lost a ton of talent due to the 2022 NBA Draft but put together a solid recruiting class, so they will be right back in the mix next season.

The 2021-22 Irish got off to a slow start and did not get rolling until they inserted Wesley into the starting lineup for the Kentucky game. In a perfect world, Starling will start right out of the gate, blending with the veterans on this roster to give the Notre Dame basketball team a strong, and deep NCAA Tournament-caliber squad.