Following Notre Dame’s 94-60 defeat at Duke last weekend — the largest margin of defeat in head coach Mike Brey’s 20-year era — the Fighting Irish were officially in playoff mode.

Cue former NFL coach Jim Mora’s “playoffs?” speech.

But yes, it was the playoffs — or the NCAA Tournament — in that six regular season games remained and needed to be won.

To win the NCAA Tournament once it gets pared to 64 teams, six games need to be won.

Since last Monday for Notre Dame versus North Carolina, it is in “survive and advance” mode just to get back on the bubble for an NCAA Tournament berth by needing to win its final six regular season games in the conference.

Facing a 15-point deficit with just over eight minutes remaining in the second half, the Fighting Irish rallied dramatically to a 77-76 victory, capped by a three-pointer from Nate Laszewski with 2.2 seconds remaining after Rex Pflueger grabbed an offensive rebound and alertly found the sophomore for the trey.

That advanced them into “the field of 32” with a 16-10 overall record and 7-8 in the ACC.

“There’s a great uplift when you win like that,” Brey said. “They feel good about themselves, they feel there’s a lot to play for and we’re within striking distance.”

• A victory this evening at home versus Miami (14-12 overall, 6-10 overall with three straight wins) at 6 p.m. on the ACC Network would advance them into the Sweet 16.

• Triumphs at Boston College on Wednesday (Feb. 26) and at Wake Forest next Saturday (Feb. 29) then would promote them to the Final Four.

• Finally, there is the matter of defeating No. 8 Florida State (23-4 overall, 13-3 in the ACC) on March 4 and Virginia Tech on March 7 — both at home — to finish 6-for-6 prior to the start of the ACC Tournament March 10 in Greensboro, N.C.

"We're still within striking distance with getting Monday (versus North Carolina), but we've got a lot of work to do," Brey said. “And there’s no question, to be realistic for us, we're going to have to do something in Greensboro, too. What that is, who knows.”

“We're in the playoffs right now,” graduate-student guard Pflueger summarized. “Every single game is important for our survival for a chance at the NCAA Tournament.”

Finishing the regular season 21-10 overall and 12-8 in the league with a six-game winning streak still would be “the tournament before the tournament.”

However, winning six consecutive league games during the regular season has been accomplished only four times in Notre Dame’s 26-year league history in men’s basketball, first by joining the Big East for the 1994-95 campaign and then the ACC since 2013-14.

• The first was in Brey’s first season (2000-01) when the Irish won eight in a row to finish 11-5 in the league while sharing the West Division title.

• Seven in a row were achieved in 2010-11 during a 14-4 Big East campaign that saw the Irish enter the NCAA Tournament ranked No. 5 and placed as a two seed.

• The following year (2011-12), a school-record nine straight were won, beginning with a victory versus No. 1 Syracuse at home.

• In 2016-17, Notre Dame won six straight league games to improve from 6-5 to 12-5, helping it earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament a third straight season. Interestingly neither the 2015 nor 2016 editions that advanced to the Elite Eight (and won the ACC in 2015) won six straight league games.

It should be noted that in 2007-08 and 2009-10, when including the Big East Tournament with the regular season, Notre Dame also won six straight both seasons.

One way or another, such a string will be needed now to keep hope alive of surviving and advancing.

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