Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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MEN'S BASKETBALL to No. 9 after a 10-2 start that included neutral-court setbacks to Kentucky (74-63) and Utah (77-75 in overtime). The Blue Devils are also without se- nior forward Amile Jefferson, who was averaging a double-double, until late January at the earliest after he suf- fered a fractured left foot in practice Dec. 12. North Carolina (11-2) rounded out the group and is ranked No. 10 nation- ally after also fighting through a cou- ple injuries, including playing without star senior point guard Marcus Paige for the first six games. So all three of those squads rank in the top 10 in the country, with Duke and North Carolina maintaining an elite level of play following injuries to key players. That's a pretty solid group at the top — but really it is just the beginning of Notre Dame's challenges in the ACC. MIAMI AND LOUISVILLE RISE An interesting shift in the preseason tiers has been the rise of two squads into the top group — Louisville and Miami. Despite the Cardinals facing off-court distractions under the cloud of an alleged sex scandal involving recruits and visits, Rick Pitino's team rose from No. 25 in the preseason Ken- pom.com rankings to No. 6 following an 11-2 start to the season. The Cardinals played a pretty poor schedule in their non-conference slate, including 11 of their 13 games against teams ranked outside the top 100 with 10 of those contests at home. But they decimated nearly every one of those opponents, winning all 11 of those games by more than 20 points with seven victories coming by 30 or more. Their only two losses consisted of nar- row defeats to No. 5 Michigan State (71-67) and No. 12 Kentucky (75-73), both on the road. Meanwhile in Miami, the Hurri- canes had elevated from No. 21 in the preseason to No. 11 after a 10-1 begin- ning to the season. Head coach Jim Larranaga's squad beat Utah (10-2) 90-66 on a neutral court, Butler (10-1) 85-75 on a neutral floor and Florida (8- 3) 66-55 at home. In all, the Hurricanes finished 3-1 against the Kenpom.com top 100 in non-conference play, includ- ing earning two of those victories on a neutral floor. That makes five ACC teams in Ken- pom.com's top 11 as of Dec. 28. Notre Dame's schedule includes six games in conference play against those five teams — Virginia, Duke and Miami on the road, and Miami, UNC and Louis- ville at home. STRONG SECOND TIER Following those top five teams, there's a bit of a drop-off but still a handful of programs capable enough to contend for the conference's cham- pionship, including the Irish. Pittsburgh at No. 27 headlines the group of three teams outside the ACC's top stage. The Panthers opened the year 10-1 overall — but only 1-1 against the Kenpom.com top 100, fall- ing 72-59 to No. 4 Purdue and de- feating No. 80 Davidson 94-69. They finished 8-0 against teams ranked outside the top 100, winning those contests by an average of 24 points.