College Hoops Picks: Marquette Golden Eagles @ Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Preview

The country's longest home game win streak was shattered last Saturday as Connecticut took down Notre Dame (No. 19 AP, No. 19 Coaches, 3-4, 12-6) in front of the faithful Irish crowd who hadn't witnessed a loss in almost three years.

But the home loss is far from the biggest problem facing the Irish this season—they do, after all, now have six losses on the season and four in conference play. They have been upset by St. John's, Louisville, and Ohio State, and have lost to UNC, Syracuse, and Connecticut. They are now on a three-game slide, and four of their next five opponents are ranked (Marquette, Pittsburgh, UCLA, and Louisville).

Their lack of depth has caught up with them multiple times this season, especially when they have faced tougher opponents. During this stretch, the Irish are going to have to have players other than Harrangody and McAlarney step up on a more consistent basis.

Marquette (No. 11 AP, No. 10 Coaches, 6-0, 17-2) is tied for first in the Big East with Louisville at 6-0, although their opponents have not been the best in the conference (they have only faced two ranked opponents so far, one of which is no longer in the Top 25). But don't let that detract from what they have accomplished so far this season.

Stats

	Record	Conf	ATS	RPI	SOS	PF	PA
Marquette	17-2	6-0	7-6-1	17	60	81.6	67.0
Notre Dame	12-6	3-4	4-7	66	116	81.2	70.2

	FG%	D. FG%	3P%	D. 3P%	FT%	RPG	SPG	APG	TPG
Marquette	46.9	42.7	37.0	31.3	72.3	38.9	7.8	16.3	12.6
Notre Dame	45.3	43.1	41.3	34.1	70.1	43.0	6.8	18.5	9.9

Prediction

Current Line: Notre Dame -3.0

Marquette ATS: 7-6-1, 0-1 when underdog
Notre Dame ATS: 4-7, 4-4 when favorite

Both teams are not the deepest in the league and it has the chance to catch up with both of them. We've seen it happen with Notre Dame against Louisville and Syracuse, and the Golden Eagles have had close calls against North Carolina State and Villanova, and they have fallen to the likes to Dayton and Tennessee.

The Golden Eagles have been successful in conference play so far, but I think their luck is about to run out. Notre Dame needs to make a big statement, and there is no time like the present to do so.

Pick: Notre Dame -3.0

*All statistics for this article have come from StatSheet.com*

*This article is also featured on CFBPlace.com—and soon to be featured on CBBPlace.com*