Brey is a good coach and, by all accounts, a great guy. He said he wanted to at least ride it out with this senior class. He's done that. I hope he moves on. Maryland may want him. He should take that job if offered to him.
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11-12 without bye would be fair. And, maybe good for ND to play sooner. They were flat before VT
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VT knocks off the 1,2 and 3 seed in the ACC. ND played VT when ND just opened, when VT was better rested and ND lost in a closer score Why should ND get a worse punishment than those other 2, when ND was in easily before Thursday? That is at least the logical argument, not necessarily the argument the committee makes. But, if Texas A&M wins tomorrow, then the committee has an argument to exclude ND.
VT losing tonight should not have excluded them from the Tournament...IMO.
1. The #1 and #3 seeds were Duke and UNC. There was no question that both would be in prior to, nor after the ACC Tournament. Are you seriously arguing that ND had a better argument for inclusion than UNC? UNC was a much better team than ND the last portion of the season.
2. Comparative scoring is really pretty stupid. Blowout losses are often avenged soon after in conferences like the ACC. Would you bet on Va Tech over Duke or UNC in the Tournament?
3. Your assumption that ND was "easily" in prior to this loss is more than questionable. The team had one good out of conference win and built its ACC record against the middle and bottom teams of the conference in an extremely weak year for the ACC.
The Committee has shown time and again that how a team finishes the season can have a large effect on their viability as a Tournament team. A&M, IU, and Rutgers deserve bids in front of ND.
1) Notre Dame finished higher in the regular season.
2) ND won the head-to-head matchup.
They were in almost all bracket prognostications no worse than an 11 seed. Nobody had them "out". I did say, in an earlier post right after VT beat Clemson on the buzzer beater, that ND needed to beat VT to eliminate all trepidation about making the tournament.
BTW, my argument about Duke and UNC also losing to VT convincingly, was not to say those two shouldn't be in, but that their losses give strength to the quality of VT. If VT lost to UNC the next night, then I believe there is a stronger argument to exclude ND.