Notre Dame coach Brey described this basketball season as fun as the Irish (19-8, 11-3 Big East) rose from a ninth-place predicted finish to tied for second in the conference during a teleconference Monday.

The fun continued in the afternoon for Notre Dame as it rose in The Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Coaches polls.

The Irish were rewarded for their eight-game winning streak by moving from No. 23 to No. 20 in the AP Top 25 and from No. 25 to No. 18 in the coaches poll. Notre Dame entered the polls for the first time last week.

ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi is now projecting Notre Dame to be a No. 6 seed in the NCAA tournament, opening against Long Beach State in Nashville.

"I don't know if I've had more fun with a group, and that's saying a lot after last year's group," Brey said. "It started with guys that wanted to be good, leadership that kept selling the message even when we were losing. I've said many times to them, it's an honor to be their coach. They want to get better and through the stretch where we won, they stayed hungry and wanted more. That's really mature, staying hungry and still chasing it."

Brey, who has described himself as the loosest coach in American during Notre Dame's winning streak, was able to stay that way even when his team fell behind by 20 to Villanova on Saturday.

The Irish clawed their way back to score a 74-70 overtime victory over the Wildcats.

"I'm going to be loose the rest of my career because I can be," Brey said. "I'm being loose the rest of the way. If I can't be loose here I'll go be loose somewhere else at this point in my career. I think it's important for them to look over and see some poise and some calm and some control"