Maryland - Notre Dame Final Four game thread

As much as I've succumbed to a certain ennui in setting up these game threads, I find myself hoping that this is the penultimate rather than the ultimate game thread for the basketball season. Sunday it's a heavyweight rematch of the Maryland Terrapins and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Irish came away with a TKO in the first bout in College Park escaping with an 87-83 win. I hope lots of people have lots to say. Certainly folks paid attention to the Elite Eight game thread so here's hoping you take it up another notch for the Final Four, baby!

I haven't been able to confirm my suspicion that Maryland's feat last weekend was unprecedented but even if it wasn't, it was certainly monumental. Sunday, Maryland took down top seeded Tennessee. Tuesday their victim was Louisville on the Cardinals home court. What may be unprecedented is beating both a one seed and a different host school in a regional final. The Terps are the first squad to win a regional final on an opponent's home floor since 1996.

And wasn't Maryland lucky? They happened to catch two teams on nights when they just didn't play well. At least that's what you'd think if you read the recap on Rocky Top Talk or listened to Jeff Walz's post game comments. For Tennessee it was "self-inflicted" and for Louisville it was missing layups and poor officiating. Maryland had nothing to do with it. Alyssa Thomas had nothing to do with it.

Ah well. Here's some stuff to read while Niles is firing up the smoker:

First on the menu is how to watch and more from Ben Strack(s) of my tears.

Want to savor the that Louisville win again? You can do that with John's recap or my reaction.

And if you're interested in a long read full of statistical and other blather, you can get into the arena through my Final Four preview or climb into the ring for an in depth look at tonight's game.

So, here we are again with some of the same questions as we had Tuesday night. Is this match-up old ACC versus new ACC? New B1G versus new ACC? For what's going to happen in Nashville, the big question is: Can the Irish overcome the injury to Natalie Achonwa or can the Terps take advantage of her absence. For TT readers, the big question is: 83-64. Really, Pete? The rest of you can make predictions. React to the game as it's happening! And remember, Rocky Balboa lost to Apollo Creed in Rocky. But in Rocky II...