Rockne's Roundtable

Hopefully we can find some magic and steal a win here, it will be hard to do against the Cards. I feel their pressure could cause us problems and i hope im wrong again in how i see this unfolding. I would love to see ND play in the final on Saturday night.

I agree... My mind says this is where it ends. I could make arguments for yesterday's game as to why we would win, but I can't find any for this one. The only thing I can come up with is that Cooley looked like he was returning to his old self in yesterday's 2nd half. His tenacity on the boards was back and was showing a lot of emotion. If that carries through to tonight, we may have a shot. I still have hope for a win.

I hope you didnt think i was meaning you being wrong Wes. i was saying i hope i was wrong again as i also don't feel good about tonights game. Lets hope we are both wrong,lol.

Louisville has been installed as an 8-point favorite, and I expected anywhere from 7 to 10.

However, although Georgetown opened as a 1.5-point favorite over Syracuse, I saw this morning have the Orange as a 1-point favorite even though the Hoyas won 57-46 in the Dome and 61-39 last weekend at home. That's the "it's hard to beat a good team three times in a row" theory — which is why I'd prefer not to have a fourth matchup for the women's team against UConn in the Final Four.

Edd, not at all. No worries.

Lou, from a gambler's perspective the likelihood of a team defeating another three or four times consecutively in a season would be a bigger issue if you were betting on that possibility at the beginning of the season. For example, the odds of ND beating UConn four times, given that the teams are obviously close to even, would be roughly 15-1 (1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2). If all those games were of equal importance, then, as the series progresses, and one team has won them all, you assume the motivational factor starts to tip in favor of the team who has gotten beaten. But, if those third and fourth games have more significance than the first two, then you have very strong motivation independent of the "revenge factor." As it applies to ND - UConn, if they meet in the semi's or the finals, I don't think it's much of a factor at all. I'd see the game as still a toss up, like the other three. ND knows they can't assume superiority, with three games won by a whisker. And with the stakes so incredibly high for this game, any other motivational factor gets swept aside. It will be full bore intensity on both sides, potentially one of the greatest college games of all time. As for the Georgetown-Syracuse game, gamblers know that Syracuse is a prime time team (think USC in football, at least under Carroll). You can expect a peak defensive effort from them tonight. They love showing up in the Garden, and Boeheim can crank them up for this tournament. He is far less successful, however, getting them to do the same in first or second round games of the Big Dance.