Back to Notre Dame. The way it works with the selection committee is that head-to-head results are something of a tiebreaker. The committee judges teams in small groups, and if teams are close, the result of a game between the two is generally supposed to rule the day.

The Irish look the part of a CFP team as the main men did their job in a great win over one of the ACC's best teams.

Olivia Olson led all scorers with 20 points. Mila Holloway scored 12 and Syla Swords added 11 points and nine rebounds. All three sophomores started last year’s second-round NCAA Tournament game, a 76-55 loss on Notre Dame’s home court. The bad taste was at least partially washed out Saturday.

The Irish (8-2) have won eight straight following an 0-2 start. If Notre Dame can avoid being upset by Syracuse or Stanford to end the regular season, it is likely heading back to the CFP after finishing runner-up to Ohio State a year ago.

Notre Dame lost to Michigan by 39 points on Saturday, three days after Hannah Hidalgo set an NCAA record with 16 steals against Akron.

As the Ohio State men’s basketball team gets set to host the Notre Dame Fighting Irish for the first test of the season, the 3-0 Buckeyes will have one name at the top of the scouting report: Junior guard Markus Burton. Burton is one of the top guards in the ACC and is quickly becoming one of the top guards in the country.

Enough time has passed since those season-opening losses to Miami and Texas A&M to see Notre Dame for the Playoff team that it is.