We are talking Independent Notre Dame to the Sun Belt conference Troy. Big difference. Thoughts? Or maybe Coach Freeman felt the urgency to win from outside forces as well as internally and needed to make a change. Either way, I’m glad he did.

Notre Dame men's basketball will end its 2023 portion of its schedule with its second ACC game of the season.

The Irish (5-7, 0-1 ACC) will host Virginia (10-2, 1-0) at Noon EST in Purcell Pavilion. Notre Dame will only play conference games for the rest of the regular season.

The Irish ended a three-game losing streak last week with a 60-56 victory over Marist. Virginia's losses came against Wisconsin (65-41) on Nov. 20 and Memphis (77-54) on Dec. 19.

The Cavaliers own an offense that's not much better at scoring than Notre Dame's. Virginia is ranked No. 320 in Division I with 66.8 points per game. Notre Dame sits at No. 342 with 62.6 points per game.

Virginia's offense is led by 6-foot-3 guard Reece Beekman with 12.9 points per game. Sophomore guard Isaac McKneely (6-4) is the only other player averaging double digits in scoring with 11.2.

But Virginia continues to play great defense. The Cavs are second in the country in scoring defense with 54.3 points per game.

Notre Dame associate head coach Kyle Getter spent the past five seasons on Virginia's staff.

Tip: 12 p.m. EST
Watch: ACC Network
Listen: Notre Dame Radio Network

Notre Dame season stats:

I wonder who wins this one.

How does scoring on defense affect the ranking, if at all? Are “points allowed” net points, or do points scored fall into their own category?

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Here's @Charleston Bowles' story from earlier this fall:

Why Notre Dame CB Jaden Mickey's touchdown meant more than points​

Say farewell to our running visitors list from the 2022 calendar year and welcome our new running visitors list for 2023.

We will update this thread as we confirm names of expected visitors.

Targets have a Notre Dame offer. Prospects do not. PWO is a preferred walk-on candidate.

All visits are unofficial visits unless listed with OV to denote an official visit.

As is always the case with recruits, this list is tentative. Recruits listed on previous dates made it to campus.

PREVIOUS VISITS
Jan.-March
Early April
Blue-Gold Game
May-June
July (BBQ event)
Tennessee State (Sept. 2) and Central Michigan (Sept. 16) games
Ohio State (Sept. 23)
USC (Oct. 14)
Pittsburgh (Oct. 28)
Wake Forest (Nov. 18)

Dec. 16
2025 OT target Will Black
2025 DE target Damien Shanklin
2025 OG prospect Cameron Herron

Our running visitors list for the 2024 calendar year is pinned at the top of the board.

@Eric Hansen and I discuss the biggest takeaways from No. 16 Notre Dame's 40-8 win over No. 19 Oregon State in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.

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Until yesterday ND had a record of 0-5 against OSU teams (Ohio, Oregon and Oklahoma State).

Got that monkey off there back.

“There is nothing that we cannot get through. There is nothing that we cannot decide. I’m going to get through this. When it rains and it’s stormy outside, we don’t just fold and cower in fear. We put on our raincoats and we go through it. And we get out there and we do what we’ve got to do.” — Nilka Mickey

Sorry this was so delayed. Long, boring story behind the delay. So, just enjoy.

As I work on the Marcus Freeman transcript from today, let's get this thread rolling with your score predictions for the Sun Bowl.

@Eric Hansen and I shared our predictions in this week's Place Your Bets video.

Eric went Notre Dame 26, Oregon State 20
I went Notre Dame 27, Oregon State 17

What say you?

So Gino just controlled a game against a decent opponent with Gino's backup qb and a depleted OL and WR corps. Handily 40-8

Ohio State is anemic with it's backup QB and no Marvin Harrison.

Which program would you rather be? Ohio State has higher rated players across the board and ND is doing objectively better even when you control this hypothesis for competition level.

My caution is be careful what you wish for and please remember the Bob Davie, Willingham, Weis years here.

Pay attention to the progress not the results.

Too many of you are expecting to outperform Georgia and Alabama.

I caution you to tame your expectations and no that's not a loser mentality.

But reconcile your rhetoric against progress or lack there of. Don't focus on the result, focus on the progress. Be patient. We are a fan base of a team who recruited top 10-15 talent who was used to performing at a top 5-10 level. This new staff is figuring things out. This doesn't quite feel like Davie to me even though I made an irrational Davie 2.0 post earlier in the season.

Plenty of reason to be upset this program underachieved with it's greatest QB since Brady Quinn, but the fact there were questions and this staff answered them and are trending on the recruiting trail.

Here's the postgame transcript from running back Jadarian Price. Questions are paraphrased.

JADARIAN PRICE:

Q: You guys started to control the run game in the second half. What led to the breakthrough?

A: “Yeah, we knew it would come down to the run game and you know, [running backs] coach [Deland] McCullough did a great job of preparing us all week [and] all bowl prep. And that can’t be done without the offensive line. They did an awesome job. You know, [quarterback] Steve [Angeli], also just communicating with him as well. We knew, as a running back group, we’d have to hold the standard.”

Q: Your 54-yarder set up Jeremiyah Love’s touchdown catch. What was it like working with him today?

A: “I love seeing everyone succeed and even though I had the 50-yarder and came out, J Love went right back in and scored. We had multiple running backs score a touchdown ... that makes me happy. But as you were saying, that can’t be done without the offensive line. I’m super proud of them and I’m just like proud of the way we worked as a group.”

Q: How good can this running back group be in 2024?

A: “I mean, y’all seen glimpses so far. This group has a lot of potential.”

Q: You had different pieces on the offensive line today, how great were they for you?

A: “Yeah, they were awesome. I just had dinner with [left tackle] Chuck Jagusah earlier this week and I was telling him, ‘Man, like this is the game. I have trust in you. I believe in you and it’s time to go.’”

“And he did an awesome job. [Right tackle] Tosh [Baker] as well on the other end with Blake [Fisher] and Joe [Alt] out. They stepped up. They did an awesome job and I’m super proud of them.”

Q: What made you trust the offensive line and believe in them so much?

A: “Just reps, reps in practice and constantly communicating with them outside the field, just in meetings and things like that.”

Q: What does it mean to see a guy like Chase Ketterer get in the endzone?

A: “I mean, we said, somebody’s gonna score either if it was Chase, Skip or Sam. Chase did his thing. I’m super proud of him. You know, we we’re super excited. He couldn’t even do a celebration because everyone was mobbing him. It was awesome to see everyone excited and see a brother succeed.”

Q: From your perspective, what did you think of Steve's performance in his first start?

A: “I think he did a good job. He felt comfortable. He led the group and we’re all proud of him. And we knew he could do it and we trusted him.”

Q: Was there any special message from Audric Estimé or the other NFL opt-out guys beforehand?

A: “Yeah, like it’s in our hands now. The standard doesn’t change no matter who leaves and who stays. The standard stays the same and they believe that.”

living in the bay area i've had a chance to see him play a bit and he's a stud. I read Tom Loy thinks we make a run which we be huge for that 3rd WR

How about my Browns.

Jets man do you guys suck.

I'll be joining Darin Pritchett, per usual, as a co-host on the WSBT-AM 960 Sun Bowl pregame radio show, GameDay SportsBeat from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET. If you're not local, you can listen to the live stream at wsbtradio.com.

Ahead of us, from 9-11 a.m. is Tim Grauel and Jim Irizarry with their GameDay show, also at wsbtradio.com. Their guest list includes: Golden Tate, Vagas Ferguson, Jerome Heavens, Sam Young, and Brian Smith.

Then for those in the South Bend area I'll be joining Pete Byrne on the local CBS TV affiliate, WSBT, for the live pregame show from 1:30 to 2.

That may be more of me than you can stand, but I appreciate you tuning in.

“It was so important to get that position filled with the No. 1 guy that I wanted,” Marcus Freeman said. “The minute it came open, because I said this at the press conference [on Dec. 20], it’s a unique situation when your offensive coordinator is a tight ends coach. That’s why as I looked for a No. 1, an offensive coordinator that was a tight ends coach, Mike Denbrock came to the top.

“It doesn’t hurt that it was the No. 1 offense in the country either. He was my top choice. To get him here is tremendous.”

If Panthers win 1 of last 2 games and tie the Cardinals for worst record, who gets the tie breaker for first pick? Panthers played well versus Packers.

@Greg Smith caught up with Notre Dame DE target Christopher Burgess Jr., a Rivals100 prospect in the 2025 class, about his top four schools: ND, Ohio State, Michigan and Alabama.


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How Notre Dame's offense will look tomorrow in the Sun Bowl is anybody's guess. But Marcus Freeman wants players to take full advantages of their opportunities regardless if it's a new one or the last one.