Heisman

I was just sitting around waiting for the world premiere of Ali Rap when a little trophy called Heisman was awarded to a guy named Smith. Oh well. Congrats to Troy and McFadden (2nd Place?!) for great seasons. They just had to come at the expense of our boy.

Marquette lost for the second consecutive Saturday, this time to a team someone's heard of. It will be interesting to see how Pitt does against the same Wisconsin team. Due to the outcome of that contest, ND should hop the Golden Eagles in the polls with plenty of games to be played before the showdown February 24.

While the players and coaches don't have the luxury, I can start looking forward to our Big East schedule. Hopefully the opener at home vs. Louisville will have a solid crowd before the Sugar Bowl. The Cardinals lost their only game against a ranked opponent, Arizona, and will have a tricky home matchup vs. Kentucky before wrapping up the nonconference games.

Looking down the road, Notre Dame should be favored in all but two contests the rest of the year. How is that possible? After a tough season last year, the Irish were granted a soft schedule and have out performed early season predictions while other conference teams have struggled. Only Syracuse in the Carrier Dome and home against Marquette are currently ranked opponents. By winning out the rest of 2006 and playing a modest 9-7 the rest of the way through Big East games, ND should be a lock for the Big Dance.

Still a lot of basketball to be played.