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College basketball

Praise has Irish eyeing Final 4 spot

After each impressive win, Notre Dame coach Mike Brey has recognized that expectations from fans would heighten. But when his brethren add to the hype, well, come on, foul.

"I'd consider them a legitimate candidate to go to the Final Four," said North Carolina coach Matt Doherty, who preceded Brey in South Bend. "I'm sure Mike doesn't appreciate me throwing that pressure on them, but they've proven it."

Fair enough.

The No. 10 Irish have eye-catching wins against Marquette, Texas, Maryland and, Sunday, Big East rival and fellow NCAA title contender Pittsburgh.

"I think they've beaten more good teams than probably anybody in the country," said Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, whose No. 17 Orangemen host the Irish today in a nationally-televised game at 1 p.m. on ESPN. "They're just having a tremendous year."

Though they lost three starters from a team that lost to Duke in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, including leading scorer and rebounder Ryan Humphrey, the Irish returned a standout backcourt combination: sharpshooter senior Matt Carroll (20.6 ppg) and sophomore point guard Chris Thomas (18.1 ppg, 7.0 apg). They are the foundation on which Brey has built by incorporating senior forward Danny Miller, a transfer from Maryland, and freshman forward Torin Francis.

Francis scored the winner in the waning seconds against Pitt. "I don't know that anyone has really distanced themselves from anybody else, so to be that (Final Four candidate), why not?" Notre Dame assistant coach Sean Kearney said. "We're a confident group. We've played well together."

Credit Brey's style and demeanor.

"He never wants to be too high or too low," Kearney said. "He is so consistent with them, it helps lessen any chances for slippage. That consistent approach has helped our group and helped us stay consistent and keep the position that we are holding."

And enhancing. So say Irish fans. So say their rivals.

"I don't think there's any question that they're a contender for the Final Four," Pitt coach Ben Howland said. "Notre Dame's really playing well. I think Mike Brey has done an outstanding job. ... They have a lot of good quality wins that will give them a lot of confidence when they get to the NCAAs."

VALUABLE EXPOSURE: Conference USA has two of the nation's top teams, No. 2 Louisville and No. 11 Marquette, but others are not receiving much love from pollsters: Cincinnati got 13 votes in the Associated Press poll and Memphis had none.

"Unfortunately you get caught up a little bit in things you see a lot of," Marquette coach Tom Crean said.

You do not see much of C-USA. That is why Sunday was so important. Cincinnati beat then-No. 11 Oklahoma State, and Marquette beat then-No. 14 Wake Forest.

"It just brings attention to a great conference," Crean said. "Any time you're beating quality opponents out of your league, it speaks volumes about your league. ... Hopefully over the next few weeks, that will come on a national level, but I think it should have been coming out more in January."

TICKET UPDATE: The St. Pete Times Forum, site for first- and second-round games March 21 and 23, has about 2,400 tickets available. The cost is $165, which makes it -- along with the sold-out Spokane Arena -- the most expensive ticket.

The NCAA issued a price range ($105-$165) and essentially asked the host committees in the eight first-round cities to gauge market demand to set the price. Based on the large turnout for early-round games at the ThunderDome (now Tropicana Field) in 1994, the maximum was chosen. The NCAA did not mind; it gets 80 percent of the gate. For more information, call (813) 301-6600. NUMBERS GAME: New Mexico senior guard Ruben Douglas is second nationally in scoring (27.5 ppg) and, entering tonight's game against Wyoming, has scored 30 or more in four straight games.

-- Brian Landman covers men's national college basketball. He can be reached at (813) 226-3347 or by e-mail at landman@sptimes.com.

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