They Don't Care About Basketball in South Bend

Notre Dame has actually been a positive surprise this season. They are playing well together, they are still winning despite losing their starting shooting guard to a marijuana possession charge. They are actually ranked in the top-25 and didn't fall out of the rankings despite a blowout road loss. I for one was figuring that by this point of the season, the Mike Brey on the "hot seat" articles would be at least a dozen deep.

Despite all that has gone well for the team, people aren't showing up for games. The team has yet to have a sellout game. This despite home games against then #5 Alabama and earlier this week against #22 WVU -- a Big East conference game no less.

They had only 8500 or so on hand for the conference opener against Louisville and the always hateable by opposing fans Rick Pitino. (Okay, I'll give them that one. Why go see the Irish win a basketball game when the football team was being destroyed 41-14 at the Sugar Bowl that night?) Wait, I'm wrong. That turned out to be one of the better attended home games this season (pdf). Even fewer people attended the WVU game.

Even the ND Basketball Blog has been hibernating.