It's still St. Patrick's Day somewhere, so where better to start than with the Irish?
Who? The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. Or just the Irish, I guess. The basketball team with more uniforms than anyone short of Oregon football.
What? I guess a leprechaun represents the spirit of being Irish? I don't know, but their commercials do a better job, if you ask me.
Where? South Bend, Indiana.
When? Saturday the 19th, versus Utah in Salt Lake City.
Why? They kicked a lot of butt in the regular season. I bet they're not thrilled about playing Utah in Utah, either.
How? They were an at-large selection from the Big East.
Surprise? Ahahahaha, no.
Who's driving this thing, anyway? Muffet McGraw, since 1987. She was a California Dream, back in the day. Yes, I know what you're thinking.
RPI: 10
SOS: 12
Record: 26-7 (13-3 Big East)
Best win: Georgetown (H)
Worst loss: UCLA (H) (2OT) It's hard to say that a team with 7 losses has no bad losses, but when three of those losses are to Connecticut, and the other four teams are DePaul, UCLA, Kentucky, and Baylor, you have no bad losses.
Notable results: Connecticut (L, H, 79-76), DePaul (L, A, 70-69, in a very epic game).
Better keep an eye on your belongings when playing Notre Dame- you know what they say about those Irish. All but two of Muffet McGraw's players have amassed at least ten steals this season. They're relentless on loose balls. All eyes are on hotshot sophomore guard Skylar Diggins, but I'd be keeping an eye on scoring leader Natalie Novosel (14.6 points) and bruising posts Becca Bruszkewski and Devereaux Peters (7.2 rebounds) if I had to scout the Irish.