When the Notre Dame men's basketball team was in the middle of its six-game winning streak, coach Mike Brey was happy staying under the radar and out of the rankings.

The Irish (17-8, 9-3 Big East) are neither of those things now.

Notre Dame entered The Associated Press Top 25 today at No. 23 and is No. 25 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll.

And Brey is happy his team is getting the recognition at this stage of the season.

"I think it's another mark for what they've earned and how far they've come," Brey said during Monday's teleconference before the rankings were released. "That was the furthest thing from our minds in November and early December."

Notre Dame, which plays host to Rutgers (12-13, 4-8) on Wednesday, is now focused on avenging a 65-58 loss to the Scarlet Knights. And Brey will not let the team's success go to its head.

"I don't know. Are we the favorite Wednesday after they beat our butts so easily in New Jersey?" Brey said.

While the Irish will focus on each of their last six games this season one at a time, Brey will remind them of what could come down the road if they close the regular season strongly.

But the coach again will not let his team get too far ahead of themselves, focusing on the Big East tournament before thinking about a potential spot in the NCAA tournament.

"They only thing we will talk about is postseason positioning for the Big East tournament," Brey said. "They are very aware of the double-bye versus a bye.

"Certainly, last year, we earned the double-bye, so they know what that meant. I mentioned that a couple of times. That is the only positioning we will talk about."

Also on Monday, Notre Dame center Jack Cooley was named the Big East player of the week.

Cooley averaged 21.5 points and 13 rebounds in wins over West Virginia and DePaul.