However, upon a quick inspection of the voting logs, I noticed some voting irregularities on both sides. It’s only slightly suspicious when several votes pour in from the same IP in a matter of seconds, so I declared Oak an unofficial victor until I had a chance to properly check all the votes.

After further review, I am ready to declare a winner:

When all was said and done the amount of suspicious votes practically cancelled each other out, allowing Oak to claim the first ever #HLSRecap Championship and as such wins the first ever #HLSRecap #DammitPoot Memorial Trophy.*

For a look at Oak’s celebration, be sure to check out this exclusive footage direct from Fighting Irish Digital Media HQ.

For this edition of the Roundup, we are going to take a look back at this tournament. Think of it as the #HLSRecap’s version of “One Shining Moment”.

*Actual trophy may or may not exist in the future.

The Roundup

Many, many thanks to the Subway Domer for the initial blessing. If you enjoyed this tournament, you should be sure to tune in to Subway’s Twittermania during football season (which Oak also won…). Sorry we failed to include any of your tweets, Subway. Seriously, our bad. On that note…

Damn y’all take this Twitter thing seriously. So what started as a crazy “what if we do this idea” turned into “this might be fun, let’s do it.” Then, #HLSRecap was about to kick off and Irish Elvis and I were all “uh…crap, we need to select 64 tweets” and then the next morning everyone was all “OH MY DEAR GOD YOU HAVE WRONGED ME, YOU HEARTLESS BASTARDS!”

Next year, expect the cut to be tougher. The selection committee has heard your cries of pain. #HLSRecap 2: Electric Boogaloo is going to be a very carefully curated selection. You’ve been warned. Bring your A-game.

Our polling plugin sucks. I have no idea what caused so many voting issues. People couldn’t vote, people found ways around the safeguards for stuffing the ballots, and results weren’t being updated properly. One way or the other, I’m fixing it. Apologies for any voting headaches and thanks for fighting through it.

Yes, we named the trophy after Poot to troll him. See, you found your way into the tournament after all!

The Beer

And now, to celebrate Oak’s victory, and even Poot getting the trophy named after him, I will now make fun of their favorite baseball team: the New York Yankees.

New "craft beer" stand at Yankee Stadium pic.twitter.com/9V3mo15FR3

— Amanda Rykoff (@amandarykoff) April 1, 2013

SERIOUSLY?!

Look, I’ll be the first to admit I’ll go into the “mainstream” in this section, but at least I own it. WTF is that?! And since when is hard cider a beer?

Damn Yankees.

The post Friday Roundup: The “And Your #HLSRecap Madness Winner Is…” Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Basically, the finals are more or less this:

Both Irish Elvis and myself have had a lot of fun running this little tournament and it seems y’all did too. What started as “hey we should do this” caught controversy wildfire. Believe me, we are taking it to heart and will have this tournament come back and be better than ever next year.

For now though, decide who wins this ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny. Voting is now open and will remain so until Thursday, April 4, 5:00pm EDT.

May the best tweet win.

The Finals

Celebration Region Champion: #12 IS THIS REAL LIFE?!

OH CATS AND DOGS ARE SQUARE DANCING IN THE STREET. THE WATER FOUNTAINS HAVE HAWAIIAN PUNCH IN THEM. SKITTLES FALLING.

— Chris Wilkinson (@cwilk) September 8, 2012

I have stopped trying to figure out exactly what is going on here. It’s clear that cwilk has got his campaigning down to a science and has pulled off two late comebacks, with one of them being the Final Four, to arrive at the championship.

OMG Region Champion: #3 Louis Nix III Is Coming for Your Soul

https://twitter.com/oaknd1/status/272564147621855232

One of my personal favorites in this tournament and I’m glad the awesome mental image of soul stealing Louis Nix has found it’s way here. This tweet has cruised to victory every round, expect for the Final Four in which only a handful of votes secured victory.

This will be a great matchup, I’m excited to see how this will turn out.

[poll id=”93″]

Previous Results

Final Four

Results

Elite Eight

Results

Sweet Sixteen

Results

Second Round

#NDFBIsDeterminedToKillMe Region

Celebration Region

LULZ Region

OMG Region

First Round

#NDFBIsDeterminedToKillMe Region

Celebration Region

LULZ Region

OMG Region

The post #HLSRecap Madness: The Finals appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

By the end of this week, we will have a champion crowned. This round though will have voting end on Tuesday, April 2 at 5:00pm EDT. Make sure to get your votes in and campaign for your favorites (or continue yelling at both Irish Elvis and I with any outrage you may have).

Without further ado, your Final Four:

Final Four

#NDFBIsDeterminedToKillMe Region Champion: #4 Fanbase Freakout

No need for Notre Dame's players to panic. The entire fanbase has that covered.

— Keith Arnold (@KeithArnold) November 3, 2012

It seems rather fitting that this description of the ND fanbase came out on top in this region. Although I’m sure a little bit of campaigning didn’t hurt either, right, Keith?

This tweet conquered #15 seed darling DEAR GOD THINK OF THE CHILDREN much to my disappointment.

Celebration Region Champion: #12 IS THIS REAL LIFE?!

OH CATS AND DOGS ARE SQUARE DANCING IN THE STREET. THE WATER FOUNTAINS HAVE HAWAIIAN PUNCH IN THEM. SKITTLES FALLING.

— Chris Wilkinson (@cwilk) September 8, 2012

Still have no idea what is going on here, but cwilk’s campaigning has netted him a Final Four berth. This tweet took out a strong Will Smith reference, Spike Lee, and a #1 seed. Basically, THIS TWEET LEAVES NO SURVIVORS!

[poll id=”91″]

LULZ Region Champion: #4 Hey, SEC, SHOTS FIRED! (If You Can Read This)

for all my friends who are SEC fans #CGDsigns #WeAreND pic.twitter.com/YvK87c1x

— katie (@katiecreigh) October 15, 2012

This tweet took out MQ’s quality shot at Denard going Oprah with his INTs. This tweet is also the last one standing with a photo attached. Is the power in the photo? Or in a skillful wielding of 140 characters?

OMG Region Champion: #3 Louis Nix III Is Coming for Your Soul

https://twitter.com/oaknd1/status/272564147621855232

And here lies said crafted skill. It takes a moment: ND stuffing Southern Cal on the goal, mixes in a badass: Louis Nix III, and crafts an awesome image: SOUL STEALING BADASS. But will wit and badassery defeat a photo of a GameDay taunt?

[poll id=”92″]

Previous Results

Elite Eight

Results

Sweet Sixteen

Results

Second Round

#NDFBIsDeterminedToKillMe Region

Celebration Region

LULZ Region

OMG Region

First Round

#NDFBIsDeterminedToKillMe Region

Celebration Region

LULZ Region

OMG Region

The post #HLSRecap Madness: Final Four appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Now we’ve arrived to the regional finals, aka the Elite Eight. The best of the best can be found below and I expect all these races to be tight. The voting is open from now until Sunday, March 31 5:00pm EDT.

#NDFBIsDeterminedToKillMe Region

#4

No need for Notre Dame's players to panic. The entire fanbase has that covered.

— Keith Arnold (@KeithArnold) November 3, 2012

I gotta admit, I can’t believe this took out Bobby’s tweet. I have apparently underestimated group panic. But will it be enough to stop the Florida Gulf Coast tweet of this tournament?

#15

Please God. I don't want a group of kids seeing me breakdown and cry #NDFB

— tricerapops (@tricerapops) September 8, 2012

And here’s the underdog darling of the tournament — aka, horribly undervalued by me. My fault for not seeing the genius of this tweet in the wee hours of the morning when I seeded this initially, but now I’m pulling for our version of #DunkCity.

[poll id=”87″]

Celebration Region

#2

I can't stop laughing and I can't stop spending money and I can't stop listening to Will Smith.

— Chris W. (@rakesofmallow) November 25, 2012

Post-Southern Cal was easily the high point of the 2012 season, so it’s no surprise this tweet has been barreling through the competition. Ironically, the tweet that gets through the celebration of the ND defense is centered around Miami.

/cue sad trombone

#12

OH CATS AND DOGS ARE SQUARE DANCING IN THE STREET. THE WATER FOUNTAINS HAVE HAWAIIAN PUNCH IN THEM. SKITTLES FALLING.

— Chris Wilkinson (@cwilk) September 8, 2012

I still have no idea what is going on here, but all I know is that cwilk has been campaigning his ass off and he took out what I thought would be a near-impossible #1 seed to dethrone. The lesson here folks is to ABC: Always Be Campaigning.

[poll id=”88″]

LULZ Region

#4

for all my friends who are SEC fans #CGDsigns #WeAreND pic.twitter.com/YvK87c1x

— katie (@katiecreigh) October 15, 2012

This tweet actually caused some serious debate in my mentions. Should this tweet be quality because she found a funny sign, or is a top tweet in the careful crafting of sub-140 character wit? You get to decide because…

#10

https://twitter.com/A5thDown/status/249676527787208704

Here comes a contest against said wit, not only that, but MQ was one of the folks raising said complaint. I think it’s a very valid point, but again, you get to decide. Will a call to the Oprah meme be enough to dethrone a College GameDay sign?

[poll id=”89″]

OMG Region

#1

Manti just grabbed Louis Nix and said "I need you." At that point I took my doctor's advice to not drink & shot-gunned it to my face

— Mo (@FightingIrish17) November 3, 2012

There’s only one #1 seed left in this tournament and it’s a strong one. Plus it invokes Louis Nix III as does it’s opponent making the the OMG Region the Irish Chocolate Region.

#3

https://twitter.com/oaknd1/status/272564147621855232

One one side, you have a “now I will run through a wall” scenario. On this side, you have the “holy crap, Louis Nix is a soul-stealing badass”. Both are equally awesome and I expect this matchup to be awesome.

[poll id=”90″]

Previous Results

Sweet Sixteen

Results

Second Round

#NDFBIsDeterminedToKillMe Region

Celebration Region

LULZ Region

OMG Region

First Round

#NDFBIsDeterminedToKillMe Region

Celebration Region

LULZ Region

OMG Region

The post #HLSRecap Madness: Elite Eight appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Voting will remain open until Thursday, March 28, at 5:00pm EDT. So be sure to get your votes in!

#NDFBIsDeterminedToKillMe Region

#1

My left arm is numb. Go Irish.

— bobby (@bobby) October 13, 2012

The perfect ecapsulation of Irish fandom is still holding on strong, despite a solid run from #9 seed #TeamTwitterHeartAttack.

#4

No need for Notre Dame's players to panic. The entire fanbase has that covered.

— Keith Arnold (@KeithArnold) November 3, 2012

While Bobby might have his finger on the (failing) pulse on the thoughts of a single Irish fan, Keith Arnold has his on the fanbase as a whole. After solidly defeating the power of prayer in the Second Round, this should be quite the interesting battle.

[poll id=”79″]

#6

https://twitter.com/oaknd1/status/244573240981352448

Oak might be scared for life when there’s any time left on the clock, but this tweet has cruised through the competition. Clearly, this ends with 40 votes going against him in the final ten seconds somewhere.

#15

Please God. I don't want a group of kids seeing me breakdown and cry #NDFB

— tricerapops (@tricerapops) September 8, 2012

And we have our Florida Gulf Coast in this tournament. The lowest seed in the Sweet Sixteen, I thought this tweet was funny, but had no idea just how much genius was truly behind it. Jesse cleared it up in the Second Round — he was at a birthday party for his niece, huddled in a corner watching the game on his iPhone, convinced the Purdue game would drive him to tears.

Not quite dunk city, but glorious nonetheless.

[poll id=”80″]

Celebration Region

#1

My feelings exactly. #WeAreND pic.twitter.com/4e8dLkKJ

— Victoria Jannetta (@vjannetta83) October 14, 2012

This tweet is almost in unfair territory as it uses one of the best photos period from the 2012 season. The caption of course just takes the cake as well. Perhaps the strongest #1 seed in the tournament.

#12

OH CATS AND DOGS ARE SQUARE DANCING IN THE STREET. THE WATER FOUNTAINS HAVE HAWAIIAN PUNCH IN THEM. SKITTLES FALLING.

— Chris Wilkinson (@cwilk) September 8, 2012

Two victories later and I still have no idea what’s going on here. All I’m sure of is that this tweet means business — whatever that business might be.

[poll id=”81″]

#2

I can't stop laughing and I can't stop spending money and I can't stop listening to Will Smith.

— Chris W. (@rakesofmallow) November 25, 2012

As I predicted in the last round, this tweet destroyed my entry. I’m cool with it, this tweet makes me far too happy to be mad*.

*As long as I don’t think about what actually happened during the title game.

#3

Q: If God is omnipotent, can He create an immovable object? A: Yes. He has created several and they all play defense for Notre Dame.

— Edward Sorin, C.S.C. (@FatherSorin) October 14, 2012

Yes, we indeed marvel at God’s creation. Especially when that creation is the destructive force that is the ND defense.

[poll id=”82″]

LULZ Region

#4

for all my friends who are SEC fans #CGDsigns #WeAreND pic.twitter.com/YvK87c1x

— katie (@katiecreigh) October 15, 2012

The good ‘ol SEC taunt is still going strong; however, it’s got some stiff compeition this week…

#9

https://twitter.com/A5thDown/status/257261553936646145

…and it comes in the form of the only tweet to take out a #1 seed. I figured Spencer Hall’s Denard jab would go a bit further, but it was no match for MQ.

[poll id=”83″]

#3

https://twitter.com/WAF2004/status/262359406556114944

And my personal favorite is still alive. Perhaps the unintentional catfishing prophecy by Fake Jack was simply the bit of healing we needed to move on that we never knew we needed at the time.

#10

https://twitter.com/A5thDown/status/249676527787208704

MQ makes his second appearance in the Sweet Sixteen. Could it be an all MQ region in the Elite Eight?

[poll id=”84″]

OMG Region

#1

Manti just grabbed Louis Nix and said "I need you." At that point I took my doctor's advice to not drink & shot-gunned it to my face

— Mo (@FightingIrish17) November 3, 2012

Tommy Rees and the Mayans gave this #1 seed a bit of a scare, but apparently a shotgun a day keeps the Mayans away…or something…

/shotguns beer

#5

th– that's Tommy Rees' music?! Seriously?

— Garrett Kuk (@garrettkuk) September 8, 2012

BUT TOMMY REES STILL FINDS A WAY INTO THIS MATCHUP! MY GAWD, KING!

[poll id=”85″]

#3

https://twitter.com/oaknd1/status/272564147621855232

Another favorite of mine in this competition. Louis Nix III is a badass and this tweet somehow manages to add to that.

#7

This is a real tweet from a real account RT @ESPN_BigTen Michigan's last five pass attempts of the first half all resulted in interceptions.

— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) September 23, 2012

This real tweet from a real account is a real contender in the Sweet Sixteen*.

*As long as Louis Nix III doesn’t steal its soul.

[poll id=”86″]

Previous Results

Second Round

#NDFBIsDeterminedToKillMe Region

Celebration Region

LULZ Region

OMG Region

First Round

#NDFBIsDeterminedToKillMe Region

Celebration Region

LULZ Region

OMG Region

The post #HLSRecap Madness: Sweet Sixteen appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

The First Round is now in the books and voting is now open for all Second Round matchups. Voting will remain open until Tuesday, March 26, 5:00pm EDT and the Sweet Sixteen will start the following day.

For all First Round results and Second Round voting, be sure to check out the links below. May the best tweet win!

First Round Results

#NDFBIsDeterminedToKillMe Region

Celebration Region

LULZ Region

OMG Region

Second Round Voting

#NDFBIsDeterminedToKillMe Region

Celebration Region

LULZ Region

OMG Region

The post #HLSRecap Madness: Second Round Voting Now Open! appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

What happened was beyond anything I could’ve possibly imagined.

When the game started, it looked like the Irish would be able to expose a huge size mismatch inside the paint. When the first media timeout hit, some cautious optimism set in.

Then everything went to hell.

Notre Dame started to turn the ball over. Continuously.

At one point in the first half, the Irish had a three minute stretch in which they were unable to take a single field goal attempt because they couldn’t hold on to the ball. By halftime, ND only had seven more shots than turnovers.

Fortunately for ND, Iowa State was more than happy to shoot themselves in the foot continuously as well. The entire first half might have been some of the worst basketball that I ever witnessed. Complete with the worst dunk attempt that I’ve ever seen.

Trailing at the half by only 12 was a gift. Then the Irish came out in the second half and allowed Iowa State to take a dunk that was practically uncontested. The remainder of the half had a similar defensive effort, allowing the Cyclones to shot for over 70% in the second half as they coasted to a 76-58 victory while most Irish fans changed the channel.

Understandably after (and during) this complete disaster, quite a bit of heat started flying at Mike Brey’s direction.

Now, I am completely on board with being beyond frustrated with the product Mike Brey has put out on the court, especially in the postseason. I’m not expecting constant trips to the Final Four, but something resembling competitive basketball in the Big Dance would be nice. We continue to watch the same movie over and over again and hope for a different ending, yet the same fiery disaster always awaits us at the end.

The Irish have been to the Sweet Sixteen only once in the Brey-era, 2003, one year before I arrived on campus. The Irish then treated me with three consecutive NIT berths, only finding their way into the Big Dance in my senior year in 2007. The best showing since then has been a second round exit at the hands of Florida State two years ago when the Irish managed to snag a 2-seed (and no, I’m not calling it the third round because the First Four isn’t a round — stop doing that, NCAA).

So, no, I won’t defend Brey in the least. However, calls for his head are absurd. He isn’t going anywhere.

First, there is that small ten year extension that Brey inked in 2012. Anyone that thinks that just one year later that ND is going to turn around and buyout the entire contract simply isn’t dealing in any kind of reality.

Even if Notre Dame decided to go crazy and fire Brey, who do you realistically bring in to replace him?

ND Basketball isn’t exactly a destination job by any means, especially considering that the basketball practice facilities are beyond sub-par in comparison to any top program in the nation (and quite a few mid-major schools at that). Couple that with heading into the great unknown of dealing with an ACC conference schedule and things aren’t very appealing. Basketball isn’t football, meaning the “back up the Brink’s truck” line of thinking doesn’t exactly apply (not like it’s a valid strategy for football either, see: Saban, Meyer, Stoops, Gruden, et al).

The bottom line is that Brey has done a fairly decent job with the Irish squad, especially considering the talent level available to them. Yes, the talent level does fall squarely on Brey’s shoulders, but it is what it is.

The mediocrity is beyond frustrating to watch, especially when it seems like every other sport at Notre Dame is excelling. Hockey won the CCHA Championship on Sunday. Fencing feel just short of a national title this weekend, but left with two individual champs. Baseball has found themselves ranked at #15. The women’s basketball team took home a Big East title as well as acting like a #1 seed in dominating fashion with a 97-64 win on Sunday.

Yet men’s basketball has been stuck in the same rut for a decade.

At this point, we simply have to hope that the star of the 2013 recruiting class, Demetrius Jackson, lives up to his superstar billing and is able to lift the Irish out of their March funk. Otherwise, I would expect more of the same from the Irish for as long as the Brey era continues which will seemingly continue:

(Hat tip)

The post Another March Disappointment: Irish Blown Out By Cyclones appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

With March Madness upon us, Irish Elvis and I got a crazy idea: to select the best tweet from our football recaps via a 64-tweet bracket.

Now, this isn’t a competition to select the best tweeter over a season like The Subway Domer. That’s a competition he rules with an iron fist, seeking out the person that brings him the most Twitter joy — we are going with total anarchy via online polls and have only a single tweet survive.

Irish Elvis handed me a list of well over 100 tweets. I then took this as a one-man selection committee cut the field down to 64 and seeded them into four different regions.

Today’s Roundup will be devoted to the introduction of each region. Each description will also contain a link that will lead to a page containing all eight match-ups between the specific tweets for that region. The polls for voting will also be found on these pages. We will keep the voting for the first round open until Sunday, 5:00pm EDT and will announce the winners on Monday, opening up voting for the second round at the same time.

Should be quite a bit of fun as we re-live the 2012 football season and the tweets that accompanied it. May the best tweet win!

The Roundup

The #NDFBIsDeterminedToKillMe Region. Let’s face it, being a fan of Notre Dame football isn’t easy. There were loads of moments last season that shaved years off our lives and nearly sent us into either cardiac arrests or alcohol induced comas. Twitter played host to the best of our cries for help in our moments of need. Vote for your favorites here.

The Celebration Region. On the other side of the coin, Twitter was a fantastic outlet for our moments of joy. Thankfully, we had many in the 2012 season. Whether it was goal line stands, beating hated rivals, or punching a ticket to Miami, there was a lot to celebrate. Be sure to vote for your favorites.

The LULZ Region. One of my favorite aspects of Twitter is that it is the sports bar of the 21st century. And like any good sports bar banter, there are inevitably loads of jokes and witty remarks flying about. There is some strong competition in here and I dare say it might be the strongest region in the tournament. It’ll be a bloodbath, so be sure to vote for your favorites here.

The OMG Region. These are the moments that made our jaws drop, made us jump up from our seats, or go full Joey Styles. These tweets best encapsulate these moments and have forever archived our reactions. Be sure to vote for your favorites here.

The Beer

I keep getting teased into thinking spring weather is finally here. However, Texas weather has a tendency to change every five minutes, so we aren’t quite there yet. I thought it was about time to bust out the St. Arnold’s Lawnmower to celebrate the spring, but since we aren’t quite there yet, I’m going with a different variation of it: The Weedwhacker.

The post Friday Roundup: The “#HLSRecap Madness” Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

The Big East Tournaments are forever behind the Irish and both men’s and women’s basketball have earned berths in their respective NCAA Tournaments. One squad will be looking for a chance at the title that just barely eluded them last season. For the other, a chance to put previous March disappointments behind them and start their ACC lives with a new legacy.

So let’s take a look at both teams paths to potential March glory. Hit the preview music (if this isn’t used continuously by CBS, I will be shocked):

Women’s Basketball

Region: Norfolk
Seed in Region: #1
First Opponent: #16 Tennessee-Martin
First Game: Sunday, March 24 5:50pm ET (ESPN2/WatchESPN)

Ladies (and Big East Champs and a #1 seed) first.

Led by all-everything Skylar Diggins, the Irish look to claim the title that has eluded them the past two years. In 2011, they finally dispatched Tennessee in convincing fashion and took down rival UCONN in the Final Four, only to watch their storybook ending fall short by six points against Texas A&M. Last year, the Irish again took UCONN out in the Final Four in overtime, but ran into the machine that was (and still is) Brittney Griner and the Baylor Bears.

Baylor is the favorite to take it all home once again and the Irish find themselves lined up themselves aligned for a possible title game rematch. UCONN once again could be a potential Final Four opponent, as Geno’s squad has landed the #1 seed in the Bridgeport reason.

Perhaps we will be fortunate enough to watch this play out again:

If you haven’t been watching this season, you’ve been missing out on quite the dominate run for Skylar Diggins’ senior season. The Irish went a perfect 16-0 against Big East opponents, capturing both the regular season and Big East Tournament titles. In fact, the Irish only suffered one loss all season…a 12 point loss to Baylor (whom themselves only have one loss all season: Stanford — another #1 seed and likely Final Four opponent on the other end of the bracket).

So yes, the stars seem aligned for yet another Final Four face off with UCONN and a possible title rematch with Baylor. Anything less than that would be likely be considered a serious disappointment for this team.

Here’s hoping their last act in the Big East is taking it all home.

Men’s Basketball

Region: West
Seed in Region: #7
First Opponent: #10 Iowa State
First Game: Friday, March 22 9:45pm ET (CBS)

The men, however, are fighting a different kind of postseason frustration as we seem to find ourselves in the same spot we usually do every year at this time. Every year it appears as if the Irish might just finally get hot at the right time — only to fall apart in the Big East Tournament followed by an early exist from the Big Dance.

The last four years, the Irish have been bounced from the Big East Tournament in the semifinals — the last three by Louisville alone (this year, the Cardinals find themselves as a #1 seed and one of the few tournament favorites). And since 2010, the Irish has followed up each of those disappointments, which an equally awful NCAA Tourney showing, with their best being a second round exit in 2011 when they found themselves as a #2 seed.

The Irish haven’t found themselves in the Sweet Sixteen since 2003 — the sole appearance in the Mike Brey era.

So yes, the Irish have quite a few postseason demons to exorcise.

This year, the Irish find themselves facing off against #10 seed Iowa State, the 4th best scoring team in the nation, driven mostly by their three-point shooting (their field goal percentage is a surprising 45.5% — good or only 70th in the nation). The Cyclones have attempted an incredible 878 three-pointers and hit 37%.

To put this in perspective, Iowa State took 2000 field goal attempts total, making 43.9% of them three-pointers. ND, who also has relied on the three quite heavily, has only taken 600 three-point attempts out of 1878 field goal attempts, making 31.9% of all attempts three-pointers (the Irish success rate was similar: 37.3%).

To be quite frank, it’s a matchup that I absolutely fear for this squad. There is very little you can do defensively against a team that is willing to take nearly half their shots willingly from beyond the arc. If they get hot, they get hot and there’s nothing you can really do about it. All of a sudden you are wondering what hit you and by then, it’s too late (think Jerian Grant vs Louisville in the 5-OT thriller).

Add on to the fact that the Irish have had some horribly slow starts out of the gate and you have a potential recipe for a blowout by halftime in the wrong direction.

Even if the Irish manage to get past Iowa State, their road to the Sweet Sixteen gets no easier as they would potentially face #2 seed, and Big Ten Champion, Ohio State. The Buckeyes have played fairly solid all season long and only suffered losses to some of the better teams in the nation: Duke, Kansas, Illinois, Michigan State, Michigan (in OT), Indiana, and Wisconsin (it should also be noted that Ohio State also managed to beat each of those Big Ten teams at some point this season).

In short, the Irish look to have quite a rough road ahead of them and I’m not overly hopeful about their chances.

—————–

So there you have it. Your March Madness Preview of how our two squads will go forth and try to get their…well, you know:

http://youtu.be/c9-w5OHeemw

The post Men’s & Women’s Hoops Prepare for the Madness appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.