With two games left of the regular season the Irish still have a lot to prove to the tournament committee. Currently Notre Dame’s name doesn’t even show up on as a team on the bubble.
The Irish are 18-11 (9-9) and are in 6th place in the ACC. Notre Dame sits at 59th in the NCAA’s Net Rankings. A win tonight against #7 Florida State would be a huge quad one win for Notre Dame. Combine that with a win on Saturday against Virginia Tech and you have 20 wins on the season and 11 wins in conference play, which would look really good on your tournament resume. Avoiding an early exit from the ACC tournament will also be crucial for Notre Dame’s tournament chances.
According the latest bracketology from CBS Sports, Butler is a 5 seed in the South Regional playing against Akron. The Bulldogs seem to be securely in the tournament at this point, but they are a long way from where they were earlier in the season when they were ranked in the top 5. Butler’s biggest problem this season has been the injuries. Getting everyone healthy and on the same page before the big dance will be the key for the Dawgs.
Butler also has two games remaining in the regular season. They’ll play St. Johns tonight in their final home game then travel to Cincinnati to play Xavier on Saturday. For Butler these final two games of the regular season are all about positioning for the conference tournament. Their 5th in the Big East. It will be tough for them to move up anymore but they can definitely move down, especially with Xavier right behind them.
Listen to both games tonight (Butler at 6:30pm, Notre Dame at 9pm) on CBS Sports Radio 1430, here on cbssportsradio1430.com, or on the CBS Sports Radio 1430 app!