Mike Brey says Notre Dame is ‘America’s team’ against Kentucky
Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said Friday he believes much of the nation will be rooting for the Fighting Irish to upset undefeated Kentucky when the teams meet in an Elite Eight game in the NCAA tournament Saturday night.
Both teams worked out and met with the media Friday in advance of the game in Cleveland in the Midwest Region. The winner will move on the Final Four in Indianapolis next week.
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Brey was responding to a question from a reporter who asked if the coach had considered what it would be like to have most people outside the state of Kentucky pulling for the Irish.
“We are America’s team tomorrow,” Brey said. “There’s no question about it. Got some great texts. And we love it, we certainly will take all that support. We’ve got a monumental challenge on our hands, but we play in the best conference in America. Going through the teams we had to go through in ACC play, I think has us very prepared to play against a great team like Kentucky.”
Kentucky is 37-0, the best start to a season without a loss in NCAA history. Many believed at the beginning of the season the Wildcats could go 40-0 and win a national title, and now they are three wins from achieving that goal. Much of the team and coach John Calipari lost in the title game last season to UConn.
It is the second consecutive game for Kentucky in which an opponent has said something beforehand that could be taken in a negative way by the Wildcats. There is no doubt the Wildcats were insulted by a prediction made by a West Virginia player earlier this week and Kentucky walloped the Mountaineers as a result.
It’s unlikely the Wildcats will be nearly as offended by Brey’s comment. The Wildcats know from a season of experience there are plenty of people who would rather not see them achieve the perfect season.
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[Kyle Ringo is the assistant editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo
