Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1517388
14 APRIL 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Atara Greenbaum — Fencing The senior from Boca Raton, Fla., registered a thrilling 15-14 comeback win in her sabre title bout to help the Fighting Irish women captured their third consecutive ACC championship. Greenbaum trailed 14-10 but fought off five championship points to secure Notre Dame its seventh ACC women's sabre title in the last eight conference championships. It marked her first league title af- ter third- and second-place finishes, respectively, the past two years. Chris Guiliano — Swimming The junior from Douglassville, Pa., helped Notre Dame to a second-place finish in the ACC Championships Feb. 20-24 — the best showing in program history — by earning three gold medals en route to Most Valu- able Male Swimmer honors. Guiliano won the 50 (18.70), 100 (40.62) and 200 freestyle (1:31.16), leaving the meet with a conference record in the 100 and a tie for the all- time ACC best swim in the 200. Olivia Markezich — Track & Field The graduate student from Woodinville, Wash., won the 3,000-meter race at the ACC Championships Feb. 22-24 and then posted a national runner- up finish at the NCAA Champi- onships March 9. Markezich also anchored Notre Dame's 4,000-meter distance medley relay team that posted a 10:44.62 at the league meet — an ACC and school record, and the third fastest time in NCAA history. She blazed her mile split in 4:22. Estevan Moreno — Baseball T h e s o p h o m o r e s e c o n d baseman from Hanover Park, Ill., notched a pair of 3-homer games, first in a 15-11 win at Tennessee Tech March 2 and then in an 11-2 home victory over Purdue March 5. In doing so, he became the first player in program history to produce three 3-homer games (he also did it last year against Virginia). Moreno's 6 home runs came in a span of just 13 at-bats and led the Irish through 14 games. — Todd D. Burlage TOP TOP OF THE CLASS OF THE CLASS Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom ✦ GIMME FIVE Notre Dame has seen only three players get selected in the top 10 of the NFL Draft since 1994. Star offensive tackle Joe Alt has a real chance to make it four. Alt confirmed March 2 at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianap- olis that he's met with the Chargers, Titans, Bears and Jets, all of whom hold selections in the top 10 of April's draft. The 6-foot-8⅝, 321-pound behemoth only allowed 1 sack in his last two seasons with the Irish, becoming an elite run blocker at the same time. During his NFL Combine workout, Alt posted a 9.91 Relative Athletic Score (RAS), according to Pro Football Network's Kent Lee Platte. That placed him at No. 13 out of 1,314 offensive tackles since 1987. Alt is No. 9 (and the highest-ranked offensive lineman) on NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah's big board. The last three Notre Dame players picked in the top 10 are also offensive linemen, with tackle Mike McGlinchey and guard Quenton Nelson being the latest at No. 9 and No. 6 to the 49ers and Colts, re- spectively, in 2018. Shortly before that, the Ravens selected tackle Ronnie Stanley No. 6 overall in 2016. Prior to those three, the two most recent top-10 picks for the Irish were defensive tackle Bryant Young, who went No. 7 to the 49ers in 1994, and quarterback Rick Mirer, the No. 2 pick in 1993. Notably, not long after Mirer was selected, running back Jerome Bettis was picked No. 10 overall by the Rams in 1993. Both Young and Bettis are now in the NFL Hall of Fame, and their sons could share the field at Notre Dame Stadium as early as 2025. Bryce Young, Bry- ant's son, is a freshman at Notre Dame while Jerome Bettis Jr. is a top wide receiver target in the 2025 class. — Jack Soble CHARTING THE IRISH RAKING IN THE RATINGS Television ratings continue to show the massive gap between the "haves" and the "have nots" in college football. Fortunately for Notre Dame, the Irish are still firmly among the "haves." According to Sports Media Watch, Notre Dame is one of just 18 schools (13 percent of the Foot- ball Bowl Subdivision) that accounted for 50 percent of the total college football viewership from 2016-23. The bottom 71 schools (53 percent of the FBS) accounted for only 10 percent of the total viewership. In 2023 alone, Notre Dame ranked No. 10 in the nation in average viewers by million, according to Action Network using data from Sports Media Watch. The Irish averaged 4.15 viewers by million in Nielsen-rated games, just behind Florida State and just ahead of Washington. The only team ahead of Notre Dame not in that group of 18 schools was Colorado at No. 3. The Buffaloes received an enormous ratings bump due to the hiring of head coach Deion Sanders and the subsequent hype around their hot start, despite finishing with a 4-8 record. Notre Dame was also partially responsible for one of the most-watched individual games of the 2023 season. Its Sept. 23 loss to Ohio State was the ninth-highest-rated game of the year, as well as the third-highest-rated game of the regular season with 9.98 million total viewers. The only regular-season games more people watched were Oregon's win over Colorado on that same day and Michigan's win over Ohio State Nov. 25. — Jack Soble TOP 10 NIELSEN-RATED TEAMS IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL IN 2023 Rk. School Avg. VBM* 1. Alabama 7.12 2. Ohio State 6.05 3. Colorado 6.00 4. Georgia 5.90 5. Michigan 5.61 6. Tennessee 4.57 7. Oregon 4.43 8. Texas 4.26 9. Florida St. 4.16 10. Notre Dame 4.15 * Average viewers by million THE LAST FIVE TOP-10 NFL DRAFT PICKS OUT OF NOTRE DAME Player, Position Year Team Overall Pick Mike McGlinchey, OT 2018 49ers 9 Quenton Nelson, G 2018 Colts 6 Ronnie Stanley, OT 2016 Ravens 6 Bryant Young, DT 1994 49ers 7 Rick Mirer 1993 Seahawks 2 JOE ALT