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Newsstand: Iowa State stays alive in Notre Dame NCAA Tournament pod

IMG_9992by:Tyler Horka•03/20/25•

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Notre Dame warms up before a women's basketball exhibition game against Davenport on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend. Notre Dame won 101-41. (Photo by Michael Clubb / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

You don’t have to say Notre Dame will play the winner of Michigan and Iowa State/Princeton if the Fighting Irish advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. You can just say Iowa State.

The Cyclones and Tigers played a first four game at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend, Ind., on Wednesday, and Iowa State won, 68-63. The Clones will match up with No. 6 seed Michigan as a No. 11 seed at 11:30 a.m. ET Friday. Notre Dame, a No. 3 seed, will follow that game up against No. 14 seed Stephen F. Austin just over half an hour after the conclusion of it.

Michigan is less of a lock to make it to Sunday than the Fighting Irish. Iowa State is a serious team with sophomore front court duo Addy Brown and Audi Crooks combining for 49 points against Princeton. And if it’s Iowa State that Notre Dame has to go against in the round of 32, the Irish will have their hands full with those two as well.

This is the third consecutive season South Bend has been the host site for first and second round NCAA Tournament games. The Irish have won both of their games on their home floor in each of the prior two instances. Both years, the round of 32 games were against teams from Mississippi. This time, it looks like it’ll be Michigan barring a feasible upset from Iowa State.

Notre Dame tweets of the day

The Fighting Irish football team got back on the practice field on Wednesday.

Fighting Irish sophomore guard Hannah Hidalgo was named one of the best five players in the country for the second year in a row.

Irish sophomore quarterback CJ Carr has a cannon.

Fighting Irish quote of the day

“We will have a spring game. It will be a version of a spring game. It’s important to me to use that as an opportunity, one to let our players, yes, perform in front of our fans. But two, it’s a chance to really integrate our community and our fans with this football program.”

— Marcus Freeman on the immediate future of the Blue-Gold Game

Blue & Gold headlines of the day

• Major Notre Dame target Joey O’Brien headlines visitor list for first spring practice
• Scoop: Notre Dame hosted 2025 four-star CB for visit this week
• ‘Going to reflect’: What Chris Ash’s biggest impact at Notre Dame has been so far

• Notre Dame football 2025 spring practice No. 1 observations: Offense
• Notre Dame football 2025 spring practice No. 1 observations: Defense
• Freshman first impressions: What Blue & Gold saw from Notre Dame early enrollees during Practice No. 1

• No timetable: What Marcus Freeman said about Irish quarterback competition
• ‘We Enhanced It’: Marcus Freeman details spring plan for Notre Dame two-sport star Jordan Faison
• Lucky Charms: No. 1 running back in 2027 schedules Notre Dame visit





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