Busting Brackets
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ACC Basketball: 2020-21 power rankings after non-conference play

By Tristan Freeman

Nov 29, 2020; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies forward Cordell Pemsl (35) and guard Wabissa Bede (3) react after the first half against the South Florida Bulls at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 29, 2020; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies forward Cordell Pemsl (35) and guard Wabissa Bede (3) react after the first half against the South Florida Bulls at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports /
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ACC Basketball
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

3-4 (0-1). . Fighting Irish . 13. team. 443.

There might not be a program that doesn’t like the Big Ten Conference more than the Irish, who went 0-3 against them this season. The first came at Michigan State to open the season, before falling to Ohio State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The third was to Notre Dame in the Crossroads Classic over a week ago.

Notre Dame is under .500 on the season currently but has faced some legit competition, while also having many close results. The issue with this team is the lack of consistency in a given game. They were getting destroyed by the Spartans before making the score respectable at the end while having a big lead against the Buckeyes before giving up over 50 points in the second half to lose as well.

Even in their lone “good” win over Kentucky, Notre Dame was up by over 22 points before letting them come back to nearly winning the game at the end. Even in the other two wins (Detroit Mercy and Bellarmine), the games were fairly close as well. This team has a fairly low ceiling overall, mainly due to the lack of depth on the roster.

Even with Santa Clara transfer guard Trey Wertz now able to play, Notre Dame only plays seven players minutes in key games. Nate Laszewski, Dane Goodwin, Prentiss Hubb, and Cormack Ryan each average over 33.6 ppg and provide over 85% of the team’s offense. While this core group is solid enough, it’s hard to imagine the Irish finishing in the top-10 of the ACC without extra contributions.