Notre Dame’s real ACC season begins against Pittsburgh
A 6-5 start, including a loss at Boston College, surely isn’t what Notre Dame had in mind. All it can do now is look forward to the rest of the schedule, which will have ACC opponents in all but one game. Fortunately, the Irish get to kick this slate off against Pittsburgh, the only conference program with a record below .500 (5-7). On the flip side, although these teams play each other twice this season, an Irish sweep is unlikely to boost their NCAA Tournament resume.
If the Irish win this game, they will have beaten the Panthers for the fifth time in their past seven trips to the Petersen Events Center. To do it, they will have to continue to rely on the overall offensive game from Dane Goodwin, the emergence of freshman phenom Blake Wesley and the shooting of Paul Atkinson Jr. At the same time, it would be helpful to get other key contributions from Mike Brey’s short rotation.
