Georgia Tech demonstrates how Notre Dame basketball can be fun spoilers

The Notre Dame basketball team isn’t dreaming about postseason success. Its fans aren’t checking the NET rankings every day to see whether they’re closer to getting on the bubble. There’s no chance for even an NIT bid for the Fighting Irish.

However, Georgia Tech demonstrated on Tuesday night that even if a postseason isn’t in the cards, there’s still reason to watch Notre Dame basketball season. There’s a reason to watch them, even when they’re taking on the best teams in the conference. 

On Tuesday night, the Yellowjackets pulled off a hell of an upset victory over the North Carolina Tarheels. The 74-73 victory wasn’t just a surprise. It was the first ACC loss of the season for the Heels. It was just the fourth loss of the season overall and ended UNC’s bid for a top ranking after this week.

Coming into the game, Georgia Tech was tied with Notre Dame basketball at the bottom of the ACC standings. Both teams are ahead of only Louisville. And yet, the Yellowjackets showed there’s still a reason to pay attention to each and every one of their games, especially as we get closer to the ACC Tournament when upsets carry a special amount of weight.

Notre Dame basketball could play spoiler just as easily and soon

The Fighting Irish had already played spoiler once this season when they toppled the Virginia Cavaliers. They’re going to play them again on Wednesday night. There’s a chance they could play spoiler again.

Even if they don’t get the upset win there, they’ve still got Duke, they’ve still got Syracuse and … they’ve still got North Carolina on the schedule. 

One thing has been true of just about every Notre Dame basketball game this year. There has been a time when they looked like the better team on the court. If they can harness that for a full 40 minutes, they’ll be fun to watch.