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Three For Notre Dame’s Winter Show

Mike Brey’s Fighting Irish have a proclivity to rise when least expected.
Mike Brey’s Fighting Irish have a proclivity to rise when least expected.


In a sports culture that often gravitates for a new voice or leadership at head coach, Notre Dame’s three prime winter sports have become a bastion of stability, growth and quality.

1. Sweet 16

Now in his 16th season at Notre Dame, Mike Brey appears on his way to matching the 20-year tenures of Basketball Hall of Fame member George Keogan (1923-43) and Digger Phelps (1971-91). Every time one is on the verge of counting a Brey team out, like after this year’s 1-2 start in the ACC (and 10-5 overall), the Fighting Irish will almost always re-emerge like a phoenix.

This weekend the Irish made history with their first ever win at Cameron(in eight tries) with a 95-91 conquest of the No. 9 Blue Devils — Brey’s fourth victory in five meetings against the iconic Mike Krzyzewski, his former mentor. Since 2012, Brey has vanquished seven different basketball coaches who have won national titles: Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim (whit another chance Jan. 28 at the Carrier Dome) when the Orange was No. 1, North Carolina’s Roy Williams (twice), UConn’s Jim Calhoun (UConn), Kentucky’s John Calipari (almost a second time last March in the Elite Eight), Louisville’s Rick Pitino, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and Krzyzewski (four times).

Brey joins Phelps as the lone Irish coaches to record three NCAA Tournament wins in a row, and needs one more Sweet 16 to tie Phelps’ mark of three NCAA Tournaments where at least two victories in a row were posted. He has it in him, because whereas Phelps’ career was on a downward trajectory in the latter stages, Brey seems to get better with age. In their last seven years in the Big East, the Irish finished in the top five in the nation’s top conference six times while posting an impressive 81-43 record. In year two of ACC play, the Irish were 14-4 and then won the league tournament title.

With home games this week against improved Virginia Tech (Wednesday) and hapless Boston College (Saturday), the Irish have an opportunity to work themselves near the top of the ACC rankings again — and maybe make another run at the Sweet 16 this March.

While many might sneer at Sweet 16 being the bar for Notre Dame’s men’s basketball (and it did get to the Elite Eight last year), consider that it requires two wins in the tourney. In Notre Dame’s 57 seasons since 1959, that has been accomplished only five times: 1978, 1979, 1987, 2003 and 2015. Not as easy as it sounds.

2. Fire On Ice

Eleventh-year hockey head coach Jeff Jackson has brought his own “Miracle On Ice” to Notre Dame. When he took the helm in 2006, the 5-27-6 Irish had the 59th worst record among 59 teams in men’s college hockey the previous campaign. By Jackson’s third season, Notre Dame was playing for the national title.

He led another march to the Frozen Four in 2011, but in the last four seasons the Irish have failed to win a game or be invited to the 16-team NCAA Tournament. With a sophomore- and freshman-dominated lineup, though, Jackson and Co. currently own the nation’s longest unbeaten string at 10 (7-0-3) and have seemingly acclimated themselves in their third season in the 12-team Hockey East. Their 8-1-2-league mark trails only UMass Lowell and traditional superpower Boston College (8-1-3) — whose lone loss came to the Irish at home in a one-game contest Dec. 10.

Notre Dame will have an opportunity to gain some separation in the coming month because its next three two-game series are at New Hampshire (Jan. 22-23), seventh in Hockey East, at Vermont (Feb. 5-6), eighth in Hockey East, and then hosting 12th and last-place Maine (Feb. 12-13), with BC interspersed at home Jan. 29.

Four of the top five scorers, and eight of the top 12, are underclassmen, led by sophomore Anders Bjork, back from the World Junior Championship in Finland. Sophomore Cal Petersen has also established himself as one of the country’s elite goaltenders and has been second nationally in saves.

It took Jackson three years to take Notre Dame to the title game, and it took three years to get back to the Frozen Four. Now in year three in Hockey East, three might be a magic number again for his troops.

3. Consistent Excellence

Speaking of getting better with age, 29th-year head coach Muffet McGraw’s No. 3-ranked women appear primed for a sixth straight Final Four appearance at the rate they’ve been going. They epitomize the meaning of “program” with their consistent excellence that has included winning the final Big East title in 2013, and capturing both the ACC regular season and tournament titles each of the past two seasons. They are a ridiculous 42-1 in ACC play and 159-11 overall the past five years.

Tonight on ESPN2 (7 p.m. ET) they host perennial power Tennessee, which still has as much talent as anyone on the country but has been more discombobulated in the leadership ranks. Tennessee beat Notre Dame the first 20 times they played — but since 2011 the Irish have won five in a row against the Vols.

This was supposed to be a drop-off year for Notre Dame before resuming the hunt for the national title hunt. It surprisingly lost junior Jewell Loyd to the WNBA, junior captain and top-five recruit Taya Reimer left the team in December for personal reasons, freshman guard Ali Patberg suffered a season-ending knee injury, and star forward Brianna Turner battled a shoulder problem that sidelined her six games. The Irish still remain a superpower in their quest for that elusive second national title banner.

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