Statistical Preview of Today's Game

Notre Dame vs. San Francisco-

Doing that research for the earlier post inspired me to look up a few more statistics, this time about the Irish.

Notre Dame-
RPI- 72
Pomeroy- 19
Projected Record- 22-8 (12-6)
68.5 Possessions/40 Minutes
Offensive Efficiency- 118.1 (7th)
Defensive Efficeincy- 88.7 (32nd)

San Francisco-
RPI- 270
Pomeroy- 223
Projected Record- 9-20 (5-9)
71.7 Possessions/40 Minutes
Offensive Efficiency- 97.3 (220th)
Defensive Efficeincy- 106.3 (256th)

For basketball junkies and statheads, this is fun to look at. However, you'll have to read Dean Oliver's book understand half of what this means (i'm going to Barnes and Noble today).

Basically, Notre Dame is playing very well. San Francisco is not. In fact, the Irish are much better than anyone really thought (outside of the Pit). Except for the two losses (against teams currently in the RPI top 70), Notre Dame has dismantled inferior opponents by an average of 26 points per game. Compare that to Georgetown (who lacks a win over an opponent the likes of Kansas State), who has a similar average margin of victory (22) against a schedule ranked 206 places lower.

No, the two losses were not fun. No, the Irish don't have another chance at a quality win until 2008, but the tournament picture is still very much intact. If the Pomeroy projection is solid (as it usually is) at 22-8, Notre Dame will be dancing once again with a better seeding than last season. That's something to look forward to.