Sept. 11, 2000
NOTRE DAME, Ind. -
First-year head coach Mike Brey and the
2000-01 Notre Dame men's basketball team will embark on a 27-game schedule
which includes eight NCAA tournament teams from last season. The Irish
non-conference slate features matchups with Cincinnati at the Wooden
Tradition at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind., Indiana at the Joyce
Center, and Kentucky at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky.
The BIG EAST Conference will continue with a 16-game schedule
during the regular-season, but the format for the postseason tournament
will change to a 12-team field beginning this year. The league also will
be split into two divisions (east and west) this season. Notre Dame's will
play in the West division which includes Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Rutgers,
Seton Hall, Syracuse and West Virginia. The teams from the other East
division will be Boston College, Connecticut, Miami, Providence, St.
John's, Villanova and Virginia Tech.
During the regular season, the Irish will play each of their
divisional opponents twice and then have four crossover games against St.
John's and Boston College at home and away contests versus Connecticut and
Virginia. With the new scheduling format, Notre Dame will not play Miami,
Providence and Villanova during the regular season.
The top six teams in each division will participate in the AT&T BIG
EAST Championship at Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y., March 7-10.
The top two teams in each division will be awarded first-round byes. The
first-round games will be cross-division matchups (the No. 3 seeds will
play No. 6 seeds and the No.4 seeds will play the No. 5 seeds).
The Irish open up the campaign by playing eight of their first 10
games at home. The season opener is on Sat., Nov. 18 against Sacred Heart,
followed by a matchup with Loyola of Chicago on Wed., Nov. 22.
Notre Dame plays back-to-back road games beginning with the
inaugural Wooden Tradition against the Bearcats on Sat., Nov. 25. This
will be the third meeting between the two teams with the Irish holding a
2-1 advantage in the series. The last time the two teams met was in the
first round of the 1976 NCAA tournament with the Irish earning a 79-78
victory.
One week following that contest, Notre Dame travels to Nashville,
Tenn., to play the Commodores of Vanderbilt. This will mark the third
straight year the two schools have met. Vanderbilt has won three straight
over the Irish, including last season's 87-85 overtime decision at the
Joyce Center.
The Irish then play six consecutive games at home to close out the
month of December. Highlighting that six-game stretch is the Hoosiers'
return to the Joyce Center on Tue., Dec. 5, followed by a visit by Miami of
Ohio on Sat., Dec. 9.
Notre Dame opens up the new year at Syracuse on Tue., Jan. 2 for
the BIG EAST opener. That contest is followed by a home matchup against
Rutgers on Sat., Jan. 6. Brey's squad then meets Seton Hall on the road on
Mon., Jan. 8.
The Irish take a break from conference play when they travel to
Rupp Arena, in Lexington, Ky., to take on Kentucky. It will be Notre
Dame's first visit to Rupp Arena since the 1996-97 campaign as the Irish
will look to end a six-game losing skid to the Wildcats.
The non-conference matchup at Kentucky is followed by three
straight home games against BIG EAST foes Pittsburgh (Jan. 16), West
Virginia (Jan. 21) and Syracuse (Jan. 23).
Notre Dame then plays four of its next six games on the road
beginning with the West Virginia contests in Feb. 11, followed by a Feb. 14
visit to Rutgers. Home games against Seton Hall (Feb. 18) and Boston
College (Feb. 21) follow before back-to-back road games against Virginia
Tech (Feb. 24) and Connecticut (Feb. 24). The Irish close out the regular
season at home against Georgetown on Sun., Mar. 4.
"I like the way our schedule has been put together," Brey says.
"Games with Cincinnati, Vanderbilt, Indiana and Kentucky are going to get
us ready for the BIG EAST, and we're going to use those contests to prepare
for conference play. I like the fact that we shake up the BIG EAST with
something outside the conference in January. Certainly going to Kentucky
and playing at Rupp Arena is one of the ultimate stages for our players."
Television coverage will be announced in the upcoming week.
2000-01 University of Notre Dame
Men's Basketball Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Site | Time |
| Wed., Nov. 8 | CALIFORNIA AAU ALL-STARS (Exh.) | NOTRE DAME, IN | 7:30 p.m. EST |
| Sun., Nov. 12 | INTERNATIONAL SELECT ALL-STARS (Exh.) | NOTRE DAME, IN | 1:00 p.m. EST |
| Sat.., Nov. 18 | SACRED HEART | NOTRE DAME, IN | 8:30 p.m. EST |
| Wed., Nov. 22 | LOYOLA (Ill.) | NOTRE DAME, IN | 7:30 p.m. EST |
| Sat., Nov. 25 | WOODEN TRADITION | Indianapolis, IN(at Conseco Fieldhouse) |
| Notre Dame vs. Cincinnati | | 1:00 p.m. EST |
| Purdue vs. Arizona | | TBA |
| Sat., Dec. 2 | at Vanderbilt | Nashville, TN | 8:00 p.m. EST |
| Tues., Dec. 5 | INDIANA | NOTRE DAME, IN | 9:00 p.m. EST |
| Sat., Dec. 9 | MIAMI (OH) | NOTRE DAME, IN | 1:00 p.m. EST |
| Sun., Dec. 17 | TENNESSEE TECH | NOTRE DAME, IN | 2:00 p.m. EST |
| Tues., Dec. 19 | CANISIUS | NOTRE DAME, IN | 7:30 p.m. EST |
| Thur., Dec. 21 | VERMONT | NOTRE DAME, IN | 7:30 p.m. EST |
| Fri., Dec. 29 | LONG ISLAND | NOTRE DAME, IN | 7:30 p.m. EST |
| Tues., Jan. 2 | *at Syracuse | Syracuse, NY | 7:00 p.m. EST |
| Sat., Jan. 6 | *RUTGERS | NOTRE DAME, IN | 7:30 p.m. EST |
| Mon., Jan. 8 | *at Seton Hall | East Rutherford, NJ | 7:00 p.m. EST |
| Sat., Jan. 13 | at Kentucky | Lexington, KY | 2:00 p.m. EST |
| Tues., Jan. 16 | *PITTSBURGH | NOTRE DAME, IN | 7:30 p.m. EST |
| Sun., Jan. 21 | *WEST VIRGINIA | NOTRE DAME, IN | 12:00 p.m. EST |
| Tues., Jan. 23 | *SYRACUSE | NOTRE DAME, IN | 7:30 p.m. EST |
| Sat., Jan. 27 | *at Georgetown | Washington, DC | 12:00 p.m. EST |
| Sat., Feb. 3 | *at Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh, PA | 7:30 p.m. EST |
| Mon., Feb. 5 | *ST. JOHN'S | NOTRE DAME, IN | 7:00 p.m. EST |
| Sun., Feb. 11 | *at West Virginia | Morgantown, WV | 2:00 p.m. EST |
| Wed., Feb. 14 | *at Rutgers | Piscataway, NJ | 9:00 p.m. EST |
| Sun., Feb. 18 | *SETON HALL | NOTRE DAME, IN | 2:00 p.m. EST |
| Wed., Feb. 21 | *BOSTON COLLEGE | NOTRE DAME, IN | 7:30 p.m. EST |
| Sat., Feb. 24 | *at Virginia Tech | Blacksburg, VA | 2:00 p.m. EST |
| Mon., Feb. 26 | *at Connecticut | Harford, CT | 7:00 p.m. EST |
| Sun., Mar. 4 | *GEORGETOWN | NOTRE DAME, IN | 2:00 p.m. EST |
| Wed., Mar. 7-Sat., Mar. 10 | AT&T BIG EAST Championship | Madison Square Garden - New York, NY |
|
HOME GAMES IN BOLD CAPS * - BIG EAST Conference game
