Remaining potential bumps in the road

These are the opponents I see on the remaining part of the schedule that could cause some trouble for ND:

at Va Tech (1/16): definitely an improved team that took Syracuse into OT. Plus they have a Mabrey, too.

Tennessee (1/24): While not impressed with the coaching, they do have a lot of talent.

FSU (2/10): They're 14-1 and are well coached. They beat Iowa, but their ACC wins to date have been close.

at NC State (2/18): They're the only undefeated team left. Their one good win was Mich. State, but they've basically thumped the ACC teams they've played to date. Plus a road game.

at Syracuse (2/25): They play really tough and it's a road game. Barely lost at Oregon. Their two losses were by 2 points at Oregon and by 4 points at Minnesota. They beat Texas A&M and beat both DePaul and Va Tech in OT.

RPI. SOS

RPI,SOS

ND 1,1
Syd 3,5
Lville 6,17
NCSt 9,35
FSU 24,103
DK32,9
Miami 35,64
VT NR50+ RPI

For the season...

ND has only one opponent with an RPI worse than #125 (#244 Binghamton), and only a total of 5 that are worse than #100 (add #105 Wake, #108 WKU, #109 Lehigh, and #123 UVA).

Meanwhile, ND has played or will play 8 of the current top 15 in the RPI.

ND lost in their most recent games at Raleigh and at

Knoxville. Miami beat ND in Coral Gables four years ago for ND's first ACC loss. ND seems to play well vs. FSU home or away, but Syracuse is going to be a tough road game. As you note Va Tech seems improved...

Would Add Miami To List

The Irish play Miami in Coral Gables on Feb. 7th and that could be a challenge.
They're 14-4 so far. They had a hiccup in a loss to Clemson, but they played without Beatrice Mompremier, their leading scorer and rebounder, who missed the game due to a family matter.

Outside of that, they've beaten Marquette and Nebraska out of conference, while defeating Va. Tech and Wake Forest in the ACC.

They could be tricky because:
- Mompremeier and fellow big Emese Hof are competent bigs who can challenge our frontcourt;
- Laura Cornelius is a competent point guard who won't get flustered and can hit open jumpers, while soph Mykea Gray is one of those waterbug guards (5'4") who can drive you nuts.
- And Katie Meier is a solid coach.

Outside of that, Totally with cbiebel:

- Va. Tech, after going undefeated in OOC play, has lost its first three ACC games, having just blown a big lead at UVA. They've got no weekend game so have nearly a week to get ready for us. Lot of pressure to perform well in our game because they then go to NC State and could be in position to be 0-5 in ACC.

- Syracuse will be tough. However, MM and staff usually come up with solid game plans against Coach Q's constant pressure, waves of subs and bomb-away attitude.

Believe the Tennessee game is away

remaining schedule is challenging