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Midwest Regional Semifinal - Quicken Loans Arena - Cleveland, OH

Posted Wednesday at 12:25 PM EST.

7:15 PM EST. The Wichita State story is a nice one. It’s the story of a mid-major rising to near the top of a sport that is dominated by power conferences and power teams. They are the team everyone loves to root for but what we have here is an overreaction to that love and an overreaction to the Shockers wiping out a #2 seed in Kansas. Kansas was clearly over-seeded. They actually looked lost and confused in their game against the Shockers while Wichita State showed up as prepared and determined as any team thus far. To say the Shockers were jacked up and ready to go against the perennial power in the State of Missouri would be an understatement. But let’s be real here, shall we? Wichita State played most of their games in Missouri Valley Conference. That’s a conference that featured teams like Bradley, Illinois State, Evansville, Loyola (Chic), Drake and Indiana State. So when you read about Wichita State’s 9th ranked defense that allowed 56 points per game, just know that those numbers are grossly skewed because they played cupcakes all year. The Shockers did play three ranked teams this season and allowed 69, 70 and 60 points to those three teams. That doesn’t include Kansas, who hung 65 on the Shockers last weekend and Kansas may have played their worst game of the year. Not to take anything away from the Shockers because they are a legit team with plenty of talent but they cannot be favored over Notre Dame.

While the Shockers were defeating the Drake’s of the world, Notre Dame was defeating and/or playing the likes of North Carolina, Virginia, Duke, Louisville, Syracuse, N.C. State, Miami and a bunch of other very good ACC teams. The Irish came into this tournament as a #3 seed but clearly should have been a #2 seed. The Irish have won 11 of their past 12 games. Put Wichita State up against that same schedule of 12 games and you can almost be guaranteed that there would’ve been at least four defeats and maybe more.  The Irish even hung a 71 on Louisville’s outstanding defense in 12-point win. Now the Irish are dogs against a mid-major that comes from a weak conference. That figures to motivate the Irish even more. Notre Dame will come into this game with a serious chip on its shoulders after learning that they’re not favored to win. The Irish are getting disrespected in the betting market and that’s something we always like to attack. Win or lose, the true value here is on the better club with the best PG in the country. Irish outright. 

NOTE: More games for the Sweet-16 round will be forthcoming.