2013 Bracketology: Illinois down, Notre Dame holds even on eve of conference tourneys

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are being predicted as a No. 7 seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament, with a final round of predictions coming Tuesday before the Fighting Irish open their final Big East tournament Wednesday.

The Fighting Irish are a No. 7 seed in the bracketologies of both SB Nation's Chris Dobbertean and ESPN.com's Joe Lunardi. Dobbertean placed Notre Dame in a regional with the No. 1-seeded Louisville Cardinals, whom the Fighting Irish played to a five-overtime win on Feb. 9. Lunardi placed Notre Dame in a regional led by the Duke Blue Devils.

Lunardi put the Illinois Fighting Illini as the No. 8 seed in the same regional as Notre Dame, pitting the Illini in its first game against the No. 9 San Diego State Aztecs with a potential round-of-32 game against Duke.

Dobbertean projected Illinois to grab a No. 9 seed, opening its first NCAA tournament under head coach John Croce against the Oregon Ducks. Dobbertean also had the winner of that game in a potential match-up against Duke.

The NCAA tournament selection show will air Sunday at 5 p.m. CT on CBS.

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