2014 ACC Tournament Preview: Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Mar 1, 2014; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard

(32) goes up for a shot as Pittsburgh Panthers forward

(42) and forward

(2) defend in the second half at the Purcell Pavilion. Pitt won 85-81 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

The ACC Tournament kicks off the second best week of the basket ball season. While a number of conference championships have already been decided, this will be the first of the major conferences.

Since this is an Indiana focused site, we’ll take a quick look at the largely forgotten Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

This hasn’t exactly been a dream year for the Irish. They sit at 15-16 on the year and are just 6-12 in the conference. Troubles with the roster extend beyond Jerian Grant being expelled at mid-season, but the team nose dived after his departure.

There is the very real possibility that this is the last game of the year for the Irish. They’re not getting any sort of post season bid, but they will have the chance to get to .500 tomorrow.

Wake Forest isn’t all that great, sitting at 16-15 with an identical conference record. They faced each other just once before and lost at Wake Forest by seven.

This game is the definition of a toss up. The Deacons are not going to be able to stop Notre Dame on offense, and even with their terrible defense the Irish match-up pretty well against Wake Forest.

Wake Forest is on what might qualify as a, well, not winning streak, but they’re 2-2 over the final four games. That streak includes a win over at the time No. 4 Duke and Clemson.

But even if they manage to pull off something resembling an upset, they will have to face Pitt.

Pitt came to South Bend for the two teams lone meeting this season. The Irish took them to overtime, but lost by four.

I can’t see Notre Dame advancing past the second round, but they should pull out the win over Wake Forest.

ACC Tournament Match-Ups 

March 12th

Game 1: 12 Wake Forest vs 13 Notre Dame, 1pm ESPN2

Game 2: 10 Miami vs 15 Virginia Tech, 3:30pm ESPN2

Game 3: 11 Georgia Tech vs 14 Boston College, 7pm ESPN2

March 13th

Game 4: 8 Maryland vs 9 Florida State, Noon ESPNU

Game 5: 5 Pitt vs Game 1 Winner, 2pm ESPNU

Game 6: 7 NC State vs Game 2 Winner, 7pm ESPNU

Game 7: 6 Clemson vs Game 3 Winner, 9pm ESPNU

March 14th

Game 8: 1 Virginia vs Game 4 Winner, Noon ESPN2

Game 9: 4 North Carolina vs Game 5 Winner, 2pm ESPN2

Game 10: 2 Syracuse vs Game 6 Winner, 7pm ESPN2

Game 11: 3 Duke vs Game 7 Winner, 9pm ESPN2

March 15th

Game 12: Game 8 Winner vs Game 9 Winner, 1pm ESPN

Game 13: Game 10 Winner vs Game 11 Winner, 3pm ESPN

March 16th

Game 14: Game 12 Winner vs Game 13 Winner, 7pm ESPN

We’ll keep you updated as the Tourney progresses.

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