Where Notre Dame stands in mock NCAA Tournament brackets as postseason begins

Notre Dame dodged the last land mine on its schedule.

The Irish blew out Pittsburgh 78-54 on Saturday to wrap up the regular season, putting any thought of a Quadrant 4 loss away in the opening minutes. Unless last-place North Carolina State somehow makes its way to the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament, there are no more potential résumé-damaging games left. Any loss won’t do much damage to their body of work.

Conference tournaments are prime time for adding to résumés. And this week made clear Notre Dame would help itself by doing so.

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The Irish aren’t squarely on the bubble, but their seed outlook took a hit this week. They lost a Quadrant 2 game at Florida State (74-70) on March 2. Furthermore, their 82-70 win at Louisville Jan. 22 is no longer a Quadrant 2 victory. That leaves them with a 4-8 record in the first two quadrants. What does that mean for their tournament profile? The ACC’s second-place team looks like a double-digit seed right now.

BracketMatrix.com, a composite of more than 120 projections, has Notre Dame as a No. 11 seed and the last team to avoid the First Four. The highest individual seed is a No. 8, and the lowest is seven brackets that do not have them included.

The rest of the résumé and the makeup of those four Quadrant 1 and 2 wins should be enough to offset the poor record, but a trip to the semifinals or finals in the ACC Tournament would make it less of an eyesore. Here’s a look at where some notable mock brackets project Notre Dame as the postseason begins.

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ESPN

Joe Lunardi’s Monday bracket has Notre Dame as the No. 10 seed in the East Regional playing No. 7 USC in a first-round game in Indianapolis. The corresponding No. 2 seed is Kentucky, which Notre Dame beat Dec. 11.

CBS Sports

Jerry Palm’s Monday projections put the Irish in a nearly identical spot to Lunardi: the East Regional No. 10 seed with a first-round game in Indianapolis and a potential second-round meeting with No. 2 Kentucky. The first-round opponent, though, is No. 7 Ohio State.

USA Today Sports

Shelby Mast and Scott Gleeson project Notre Dame as a No. 10 seed, but in the West Regional. The Irish’s first-round game in their mock bracket is against No. 7 TCU, and the No. 2 seed in their region is Wisconsin.

The Athletic

Brian Bennett’s Monday bracket has Notre Dame as a No. 11 seed playing No. 6 Alabama in Indianapolis, with Purdue as the corresponding No. 3 seed.

On3

Eric Prisbell’s updated seed list, released Monday, has Notre Dame as the first No. 10.

ESPN Bubble Watch

John Gasaway moved Notre Dame into the “work to do” category, down from “should be in” in his Monday Bubble Watch.

“Mike Brey’s team did what it had to do in a precarious position by winning easily at home against Pitt,” Gasaway wrote. “A loss to the Panthers would have been devastating for a team already on some ‘last four in’ lists.”

“Now the Fighting Irish can concentrate on climbing to higher ground in the bracket with an additional win or two prior to Selection Sunday. Note that it’s not often we’re speaking of the No. 2 seed at the ACC tournament in such urgent tones here at Bubble Watch. Then again you might have noticed that, Duke notwithstanding, this has not been a normal ACC season.”

Notre Dame quick facts

Record: 22-9, 15-5 ACC

NET Ranking: 50

KenPom ranking: 47

Highest team sheet ranking: 39 (T-rank)

Lowest team sheet ranking: 60 (KPI)

Strength of schedule: 75

Non-conference strength of schedule: 27

Strength of record: 35

Quadrant 1 record: 2-6

Quadrant 2 record: 2-2

Quadrant 3 record: 11-3

Quadrant 4 record: 6-0

Non-Division I record: 1-0