The Maui

The Maui Invitational Tournament could be the most competitive ever.  The teams include the host Chaminade (a division 2 program), Saint Joe's, (7)Texas, (8)Notre Dame, Indiana, (1)North Carolina, Alabama, and Oregon.  The tournament should be great and real competitive, here is the full bracket showing the match-ups:

Here are the Notre Dame Basketball blog's predictions for what will happen in the tournament, staying on the winners bracket side.

1st Round Winners:

Texas (by 15)

Notre Dame (by 15)

North Carolina (by 30+)

Oregon (by 10)

2nd Round Winners:

Notre Dame (by 5)

North Carolina (by 15)

Championship:

North Carolina (by 10)

While we tend to have some what biased (to say the least) predictions when it comes to Notre Dame basketball games, this prediction seems very realistic to us.  North Carolina, if Hansbrough is 100%,  should be able to handle the Irish or Texas in the finals

Notre Dame Wins... Not Easily 65-54

A W is a W but this one might have been too close for comfort.  The 8th ranked Irish had their lead cut down to three late in the second half, however they held on for an 11 point victory at Loyala Marymount. 

Harangody had an impressive game, but not out of the usual with 27 points and 17 rebounds.  Jackson also added 16 points for the Irish.

Now its on to Maui

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.