If any Notre Dame fans are having trouble believing the Irish could be a legitimate national championship contender, don’t take it from me:

“At this moment, give me Ohio State, Duke, Notre Dame and Kansas State to reach the Final Four, with the Fighting Irish winning it all.

And I can’t believe I just typed that sentence.

But I’ll stick with it at least until tomorrow morning.”

Those three sentences come from ESPN columnist Pat Forde’s rapid-fire reaction to the bracket release, posted at 9:34 p.m. Sunday.

Forde follows college basketball closely all-year long, so his gut instinct is not one to be ignored.

I’m not saying the Irish are going to win the national championship. I haven’t come to a verdict on that. For now, I will stand by my Final Four prediction seen in Thursday’s Irish Insider.

I’m simply pointing out – not only delusional Notre Dame fans preparing for St. Patrick’s Day believe in Ben, Brey and the boys.