Rockne's Roundtable

No

I will say no way. But i hope they prove me wrong.

My goal is to beat Marquette. Anything after that would be gravy. I do not see this team as either exceptionaly talented or possessing the will that the team had a couple of years ago.

Not a chance.

Jimbo, I'm guessing he meant not a chance of getting to Saturday night, which was Lou's initial point. That means beating Louisville first. I think you're probably familiar with them. Of course, Lou thinks there's some magic in the air. Well, that's what it will take.

Ham,

Remember the Buffalo Springfield {"There's Something Happening Here") column after the Michigan State game last September? I abhor manufactured hype ... but after that game I was getting that sense that this season had the elements of 1964 and 1988 in place. It's like faith in a High Power. You can't necessarily explain it, but you can feel something is happening.

That is why I asked the question earlier this week about Saturday night. Brey has been talking about it for years, and this is his last chance. Yet he is so loose on the sidelines. I never thought for one second they would lose to Marquette even after falling behind 17-4. All I thought of was how that Pitt game (behind 19-3 before winning by 11) will be their reference point.

UConn came out of nowhere as a low seed to win this two years ago, and Louisville did the same last year. The Cards have beaten ND two straight on Friday night ... is the third the charm? 40 years ago in 1973, ND had its greatest postseason tournament run ever ((even better than 1978 Final Four) in Madison Square Garden when on that floor they beat Pac-8 runner-up USC and then two 1972 FInal Four participants (Louisville and North Carolina) in the NIT when that tournament meant something (only 25 went to the NCAA Tournament, and you had to win the conference, and 16 very good teams went to the NIT).

I can't explain it. Combined with what the women did in winning their first Big East Tournament ever, the odd jerseys, the last chance ... there might be a right mojo going on.The football program is far different from men's basketball in expectations, but Louisville tonight could be what Oklahoma was to the football program on Oct. 27.

One of these year, Brey has to make a run in either the Big East or NCAA Tournament, if not both. He's too good a coach not to. Those things tend to happen when you don't expect it, similar to the past football season.

Would I bet the house on it? No, I am well aware of ND's basketball history in March. But in these next six or seven years (I think Brey stays at least 20 like Digger), I'm expecting one major run to the Elite 8. Given the state of college basketball this season, why not now?

Lou, it could happen, but you couldn't provide a rational basis for it by comparing the way the two teams are playing right now, because as Simm says, Louisville is playing as well as any team in the country right now, and that's just how Pitino brings them into the tournament every year. History provides a road map, but you still gotta have the right people driving the car. Impossible? Hardly. Much stranger things have happened. But, if it does, I'm giving credit to the uniforms. I think it makes the other team dizzy.