Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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48 NOV. 21, 2016 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED MEN'S BASKETBALL BY MATT JONES B ack-to-back trips to the Elite Eight have the Notre Dame men's basketball team rid- ing high entering the 2016-17 season. Whether 17th-year head coach Mike Brey's squad can reach that level again will be a challenge, one dependent on the play of his top returning players — seniors V.J. Beachem and Steve Vasturia — as well as the continued emergence of juniors Matt Farrell, Bonzie Colson and Martinas Geben. Should the Irish surpass their pre- season projections — the Atlantic Coast Conference media picked Notre Dame seventh among the league's 15 teams — and qualify for the NCAA Tournament again, it would be a ma- jor achievement for Brey in a season many expect his team to regress. Beating the consensus top tier of the ACC will be tough. Notre Dame faces each of those teams — Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, Louisville and Syracuse — at least once, and plays North Carolina State on the road. Finding one or two wins there will be vital, as well as taking care of business against the bottom of the league. Here's a look at Notre Dame's complete schedule broken down into clear-cut gimmies (Must Haves), toss- ups (Bubble Games) and matchups that require an Irish upset (Steals). MUST HAVES For Notre Dame to reach at least 20 wins before postseason play and secure good NCAA Tournament seed- ing, it cannot let any of these contests slip away, or one at the most. The Irish will be considered heavy favorites in all of these non-conference games, and favorites in these ACC games. Non-conference (nine): Bryant (8-23 last season), Seattle (15-17), Loyola (Md.) (9-21), Chicago State (4-28), Iowa (22-11), North Carolina A&T (10-22), Fort Wayne (24-10), Col- gate (13-17) and Saint Peter's (14-16). ACC (six): Clemson (17-14), Wake Forest (11-20), Florida State (20-14), at Boston College (7-25), Georgia Tech (21-15) and Boston College. Among Notre Dame's projected "Must Haves" in the non-conference season, Iowa is expected to be the big- gest challenge, a game played as part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. The Irish host the Hawkeyes Nov. 29, a squad that lost four starters from last year's team that went 22-11 and fell in the sec- ond round of the NCAA Tournament to eventual national champion Villanova. The best returner for Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery is senior guard Peter Jok, who averaged 16.1 points last season and shot 40.2 percent from three-point range on 199 attempts. He leads the Hawkeyes, the No. 55 team in KenPom.com's preseason ratings. The Irish will also need to bol- ster their NCAA résumé with wins against the bottom tier of the ACC. Among these "Must Haves," only Clemson finished above .500 in the league last season. Of the 13 non-conference games Notre Dame plays this season, nine fall into this category. That schedul- ing should allow for Notre Dame to start the season with a strong record while fine-tuning a rotation of inex- perienced players. BUBBLE GAMES These are the games that could go either way and will go a long way in determining if the Irish make the NCAA Tournament. These games also present great opportunities for Notre Dame to pick up some cred- ibility with quality road victories. Non-conference (two): Colorado (22-12), and Texas (20-13) or North- western (20-12). ACC (seven): at Pittsburgh (21-12), Louisville (23-8), at Miami (27-8), at Virginia Tech (20-15), at Florida State (20-14), Syracuse (23-14) and at Geor- gia Tech (21-15). Meetings against Colorado and either Texas or Northwestern — games played at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., as part of the Leg- ends Classic — could go either way, Must Haves, Bubbles And Steals The Irish are aiming for 20-plus wins for the 10th time in 11 seasons Senior V.J. Beachem and the Irish will face a schedule that features 11 teams that earned a spot in last season's NCAA Tournament. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND