As the season has progressed, the title of tournament favorite has been passed around in seemingly endless fashion. Duke started out as the chosen team, but it lost its best player, Kyrie Irving, and looked far from elite while getting pounded by St. Johns. The University of Kansas tried on the mantle, but then lost by 16 at rival Kansas State. Even mid-majors Brigham Young University (BYU) and San Diego State made their way into the argument, but the Cougars shot themselves in the foot by dismissing Brandon Davies, while the Aztecs no longer had any right to talk after losing to BYU twice.
The picture is not much clearer today than it was three months ago. But out of the haze has appeared a team that has risen through the ranks so quietly that even with their fresh No. 4 ranking, they remain under the radar. That team is the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and anyone planning on filling out a bracket next week should take notice.
In a fitting microcosm of the season they had in store, Notre Dame was picked on Big East media day to finish seventh in the conference, despite coming within two points of the Big East Championship Game in 2009-2010 and featuring five seniors as their starting lineup. The Irish were not fazed, starting off the season with eight straight wins — including a pre-season title at the Old Spice Classic, during which they beat a pair of tournament favorites in Wisconsin and Georgia.
After a stumble against Kentucky, Notre Dame regained its form and cruised into Big East play at 11-1. But early on in the conference slate, the Irish could not get it done on the road, losing at Syracuse, Marquette and St. John's. The critics were quick to bury them in the rankings, dropping them back down to No. 16 despite a host of quality victories.
Once again, the team came back and proved everyone wrong. Since the loss to St. John's, the Irish have taken 11 of 12 games, including road wins over No. 2 Pittsburgh and No. 21 Connecticut, silencing any remaining doubters. Arguably no team in the country is hotter than Notre Dame heading into the Big East Tournament, and if they can carry that momentum into March Madness, the rest of the nation better be prepared.
Yet at no point have the Irish been considered the best team in their conference. Even while Notre Dame has been streaking down the stretch, the headlines have all been focused on the rise of St. John's up the standings. The media have not focused on the true underdog story of the Big East.
It should come as no surprise that the nation's most-underrated team also happens to have the nation's most-underrated player. Senior guard Ben Hansbrough, younger brother of Indiana Pacer and ex-Tar Heel Tyler Hansbrough, has almost silently put together a player-of-the-year quality season in the country's most difficult conference.
A quick comparison with Player of the Year front-runner, BYU's senior guard Jimmer Fredette, tells the story. While Fredette leads in points per game (27.9 points per game versus 18.5), Hansbrough shoots at a higher clip from both the field (49.2 percent versus 45.5) and beyond the arc (45.1 percent versus 40.4) while putting together a much stronger assist-to-turnover ratio (1.80 assists per turnover versus Fredette's 1.25). The only thing that truly sets Fredette apart is throwing up more shots.
But the Irish are no one-man show. All five starters for Notre Dame average at least nine points per game, and all but guard Scott Martin shoot better than 45 percent from the field. They also rarely turn over the ball, and their low assist-to-turnover ratio combined with their accurate shooting has to rank them third in Ken Pomeroy's adjusted offensive efficiency ratings, known throughout the college basketball world as the best indicator of offensive play.
If there is one Achilles' heel for the Irish, it is their bench. Coach Mike Brey runs a seven-man rotation, and only freshman Eric Atkins makes significant contributions as a sixth man. In the team's five losses, Notre Dame scored fewer than 30 points in the second halves of three of them — including just 18 points against Kentucky — a sign that that perhaps they do not have the depth needed for a tournament run.
Still, the experience of their players is a big advantage. No team will be more poised come tourney time than the senior-led Irish, who went to overtime twice this year — against Georgia and Louisville — and came away with wins in both games.
With a pair of wins in the early rounds of this weekend's Big East tournament, Notre Dame will break the school record for wins, previously held by Digger Phelps' 1973-1974 squad. With a couple of more wins, the Irish could then take one of the four No. 1 seeds for this year's NCAA tournament. But as the team begins its trip toward the Final Four in Houston, Texas, one thing is sure: The nation will have to take notice.
