Irish Defeat USC Upstate 94-58

The Irish, not surprisingly, destroyed the South Carolina Upstate Spartins tonight.  Harangody contributed 30 points and 14 rebounds, another double-double, to give a Notre Dame an easy win at home.  This moves the current streak to 38, the second highest current home-court winning streak in the nation.  BYU is first.  The win tonight has also tied the Notre Dame's previous longest home-court winning streak.

Harangody wasted no time showing that he has worked on his outside game.  The Irish opened up the second half with Harangody's 4th career three-pointer.  If you remember all 3 of Luke's other 3s were made vs Louisville in one game where Harangody almost single-handedly pulled the team back into the game.  

Luke Zeller scored a career high 18 points, McAlarney added 10 and Zach Hillesland contributed 13 points to the effort.

The season is off to a good start.

Poll Results: Who will contribute most to the Irish next year?

Luke Harangody: 66%

Kyle McAlarney: 26%

Tory Jackson : 4%

Zach Hillesland 2%

It's tough competing against the Big East player of the year.

Sports Illustrated Cover

In their college basketball pre-season poll the Irish come in ranked 6.  The Irish will play their first game on Sunday, it is sure to be a blow-out but will be exciting to watch.  This is one of the few Irish games that won't be nationally televised this season, however for those who wish to watch; go to UND.com and under the mens basketball schedule their will be a link to watch the game online for free.

AP Top 25, Irish to Set to Play Top 5 Teams

The AP has the Irish ranked 9 just as ESPN/USA Today does. The top 5 however is slightly different; 1. North Carolina, 2. UConn, 3. Louisville, 4. UCLA, 5. Pittsburgh. It's for sure that the Irish will play UConn, Louisville, UCLA, and Pittsburgh (the Huskies twice as a matter of fact.) North Carolina is likely. The Irish and North Carolina will both play in the annual Maui Invitational Tournament, I can't imagine either of the teams not making it to the finals.

So just how hard is Notre Dame's schedule? Beside playing the top 5 teams in the country, they will also face another 3 teams in the Top 25 and then compete in the toughest conference there
is.

The full poll:

Irish Name Captains, Defeat Briar Cliff, 103-64

Kyle McAlarney, Luke Zeller, Ryan Ayers, and Zach Hillesland have been named the captains for the 2008-2009 season and it marks the 5th time in Notre Dame history that the role of captain has been shared by 4 players.  

Notre Dame also played their first exhibition game of the season on Halloween night and easily defeated the Briar Cliff Charger.  All 5 starters scored in double digits, Ayers was on fire the whole night with 21 points, Jackson contributed with a game-high 18 points, Harangody had yet another double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, and McAlarney and Zeller added 11 and 12 points.  Tim Abromiatis saw good minutes and picked up 8 points and 4 rebounds, and Charleton Scott also had a good night with 6 points and 4 rebounds.  

Irish Nationally Recognized

The first pre-season poll came out today and is good news for the Irish and the other teams in the Big East.  The Irish are ranked 9th in the new ESPN/USA Today Preseason poll, the highest pre-season coaches poll ranking ever for Notre Dame.  The last two seasons Notre Dame was not recognized in preseason polls even though both seasons resulted in at-large NCAA bids.  This year however, is different.  With pretty much everyone returning the Irish are now a team to be reckoned with.  

Irish Previous Pre-season Rankings

2006-2007:

Preseason Conference Rank: 12

Actual Rank: 4

Preseason National Rank: None

Actual Rank: 21

2007-2008:

Preseason Conference Rank: 9

Actual Rank: 2

Preseason National Rank: None

Actual Rank: 14

Here is the full poll which includes 7 Big East teams.

Pre-season Big East Poll (Vote)

1. Connecticut

2. Louisville

3. Pittsburgh

4. Notre Dame

5. Villanova

6. Marquette

7. Georgetown

8. Syracuse

9. West Virginia

10. Providence

11. Cincinnati

12. Rutgers

13. Seton Hall

14. St. John's

15. DePaul

16. USF

Notre Dame has been underestimated in the preseason polls for the last 3 seasons and I don't think season will be an exception.  Notre Dame will certainly live up to their current 4 ranking in the conference and most likely be better than it.

On the side you can vote for who YOU think will win the Big East this year.