Notre Dame began the season ranked ninth in the country and was one of the favorites to compete for a Big East championship.

The Fighting Irish had the reigning Big East player of the year in junior center Luke Harangody and three other returning starters that were part of a team that advanced to the second round of last year's NCAA tournament.

Making it back to the tournament wasn't a goal for the Irish, it was an expectation. But at the midpoint of the Big East schedule, Notre Dame is in danger of falling out of contention for one of those coveted invitations after losing four consecutive games and falling out of the national rankings.

When No. 3 Pitt (18-2, 6-2) plays host to Notre Dame (12-7, 3-5) today at the Petersen Events Center, the Panthers will be facing a desperate team.

"There are so many people evaluating the future, the bracket and everything," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. "That's not lost on me. But I just think we have to think short term, day-to-day and just try to get a league win. That's the way we've addressed it.

"I knew it was going to be scratch and claw to get a bid. It always is. I had a feeling for what was coming in this league. I haven't addressed the [postseason]. I've tried not to look at [the big picture] yet."

The big picture, at the moment, is not good. Notre Dame's past four losses have all come against ranked teams. They lost at Louisville and Syracuse and then lost home games to Connecticut and Marquette in the past week. The Irish had won 45 consecutive games at the Joyce Center.

Brey is pulling out all of the stops in an attempt to get his team jump-started. He changed his starting lineup, benching two starters for the Marquette game. When that didn't work, he called a couple of early morning practices this week that served as wake-up calls to his players.

"It creates a sense of urgency," Brey said.

Despite their recent struggles, the Irish have talent and experience which suggests their problems won't last long. Harangody leads the Big East in scoring with 25 points per game and is second in rebounding behind Pitt center DeJuan Blair with 13.3 per game.

Harangody has scored 20 points or more in 12 consecutive games and can be a dominant presence. But Notre Dame's problem has been Harangody's supporting cast.

The pregame hype will be focused on the Harangody-Blair matchup, but the key to beating Notre Dame recently has been limiting the time and space of senior 3-point specialist Kyle McAlarney.

McAlarney, who is shooting 46 percent from 3-point range this season, is just 4 for 14 in the past two games as opponents have been smothering him with a variety of defenders. The ploy has not allowed McAlarney to set up for shots in a comfortable manner.

"There is a lot of athletic ability and speed that can [cover] him," Brey said. "I think the thing we can do to help is run more and get some easy baskets in transition. We've walked it up a little too much at times."

Notre Dame is not catching Pitt at the most opportune time. The Panthers didn't play particularly well Wednesday against Villanova and lost for the second time this season.

Pitt has lost consecutive games only a handful of times under coach Jamie Dixon and will be looking to take their frustrations out on the Irish.

The schedule lightens considerably for Notre Dame after Pitt. Of its final nine Big East games only three opponents are currently ranked. There is time to make up some ground, but a victory at Pitt would do wonders for Notre Dame's NCAA resume.

"This is a group that is going to keep competing every night," Brey said. "If they had been a group that hadn't had much success then I'd be concerned right now. But this is a group that has had some success. It's not something I'm losing sleep over.

"There is a lot of basketball left," he added. "There are so many twists and turns in the college basketball season. We'll keep swinging and see if our guys can get into a rhythm."