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The Breakfast Buffet: Notre Dame’s golden opportunity, A.J. Griffin, NCAA should consider altering First Four

Who’s hungry for college basketball?

Here’s today’s installment of “The Breakfast Buffet”, a daily column that can be found here every single morning getting you caught up to date on everything that’s happened from the day/night before and everything that’s going to happen in the next 24 hours.

Mangia!

Things To Sample

Notre Dame’s golden opportunity
The Irish haven’t played in the NCAA Tournament since 2017 and a win tonight over Duke (17-3) would go a long way in their hopes of ending their drought. Mike Brey’s squad enters tonight’s tilt in South Bend with 10 wins in their last 11 games. Does Notre Dame (14-6) have enough to beat the Blue Devils? No question. The Irish — who have already beaten Kentucky this season — do not possess the same level of talent as Duke, but they do have significantly more experience. Six of Notre Dame’s top seven players — Prentiss Hubb, Dane Goodwin, Cormac Ryan, Trey Wertz, Nate Laszewski, and Paul Atkinson — are either seniors or graduate students. This is as big of a game as Brey and the Irish have played in a long time.

A.J. Griffin is Duke’s ultimate wildcard
Injuries hampered Griffin during his final years of high school and during the first month of this year, but he’s finally starting to regain the form that made him one of the most coveted prospects in the country. The 6-6 wing is averaging 14 points in his last three games is a whopping 10-15 from three-point range during that span; Griffin was 5-5 from long distance in Saturday’s win over Louisville. Duke is 8-1 in games this season when Griffin scores in double figures, with its only loss coming by two at home against Miami. Griffin played just two minutes in the Blue Devils’ first loss of the year at Ohio State.

The NCAA should consider altering the First Four
We’re a little less than six weeks away from Selection Sunday and the bubble for this year’s NCAA Tournament already looks softer than frozen yogurt at Pinkberry during the middle of July. This has been a recurring theme over the last few years. So here’s an idea: It may be time for the NCAA to consider altering the First Four and make the games that are played on Tuesday and Wednesday feature the final eight at-large teams that qualify for the NCAA Tournament. This would also allow all mid-majors who received an automatic qualifier by winning their conference tournament a guaranteed spot in the Round of 64. One big reason why I’m such an advocate for this model: Significantly better matchups out of the gate for the greatest event in sports.

On The Side

  • Villanova (16-5) is now 18-4 over the last two years in games where Caleb Daniels scores in double figures. That includes a 7-1 mark this season. Daniels had 15 points and five rebounds in Saturday’s win over St. John’s.
  • Johnny Juzang’s two-game absence due to COVID protocols opened the door for Jake Kyman to have a bigger role for UCLA (16-2); he delivered. The Bruins’ little used long-range sniper tallied a combined 25 points last week in back-to-back wins Cal and Stanford. It will be interesting to see if Mick Cronin makes Kyman a regular member of the Bruins’ rotation moving forward.
  • Miami is 5-1 in true road games this season, with its lone defeat coming by one at Florida State on Jan. 11th.
  • Utah State (12-9) is a legitimate bid stealer to monitor out of the Mountain West. The Aggies beat San Diego State and Nevada last week by a combined 47 points without their starting backcourt — Rylan Jones (concussion) and Brock Miller (back) — who were both out of the lineup due to injuries. Keep your eye on this team.
  • Grant McCasland is again doing a strong coaching job at North Texas (15-4). The Mean Green have won seven games in a row and have an excellent chance to return to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season. North Texas upset Purdue last year in the Round of 64 before falling to Villanova.

Daily Specials

  • Duke at Notre Dame
  • Iowa at Penn State
  • Colorado State at Wyoming
  • West Virginia at Baylor
  • TCU at Oklahoma

Leftovers