2012-13 Men’s Basketball Schedule
Sept. 12, 2012
NOTRE DAME, Ind. –
One of the most challenging schedules in program history awaits the 2012-13 Notre Dame men’s basketball team during the upcoming campaign as the Irish are slated to make 18 appearances on national television.
Notre Dame’s 21-game home slate (19 conference, two exhibition games) will feature appearances at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center by defending national champion Kentucky on Thursday, Nov. 29 at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN2 as part of the SEC/BIG EAST Challenge and a Big Monday showdown with Georgetown (Jan. 21 at 7:00 p.m.) on Martin Luther King Day. Also on a tap is a matchup with defending BIG EAST tournament champion and Final Four participant Louisville on Saturday, Feb. 9 in what could mark the second-ever visit to Purcell Pavilion by the ESPN College GameDay crew. The CBS cameras also will be at Notre Dame when the Irish play host to the Cincinnati Bearcats on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 2:00 p.m.
“Certainly, this is one of the toughest regular-season schedules we have played in my time here,” head coach Mike Brey says. “But I am excited for our players and the challenges that await us this season. This is an experienced group and I am looking forward to seeing us navigate through the schedule. One of things that I have been most proud during my time here as head coach is the consistency that we’ve shown from year to year and how we’ve been able to manage the schedule.”
As has been the norm in recent years, every conference game will be televised and more than 56 percent of those contests will be shown on national television. ESPN and ESPN2 will carry 45 league matchups, with no less than 24 of those contests also scheduled for ESPNU.
Thirteen of Notre Dame’s 18 BIG EAST regular-season contests will be shown by ESPN, ESPN2 or CBS throughout conference season. The Irish are slated for three appearances on Big Monday with the first coming against the Hoyas in the Martin Luther King Day matchup. The other two Big Monday matchups will be on the road against Syracuse (Feb. 4) and Pittsburgh (Feb. 18).
The month of November will be a busy one with seven games scheduled in the first 17 days of the season. Notre Dame opens up the campaign on Saturday, Nov. 10 against Evansville in the first of two preliminary round games of the CVC (Coaches vs. Cancer) Classic. The Irish return to action two nights later against Monmouth on Monday, Nov. 12 at 7:00 p.m. in a second-round matchup.
The first two national television appearances for the Irish will come in the championship rounds of the CVC Classic as all four games of the event will be televised by TruTV from the newly-built Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Notre Dame’s semifinal opponent in the tournament will be St. Joseph’s on Friday, Nov. 16 at 9:30 p.m., in what will be just the second meeting ever between the two schools. The following night, Saturday, Nov. 17, the Irish will play either Florida State or BYU. The Irish last played the Seminoles in the third round of the 2011 NCAA Tournament and a matchup with the Cougars will be the first meeting since March 2000 in the NIT.
Returning home from the CVC Classic, Notre Dame begins a five-game homestand starting with George Washington in what will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools on Wednesday, Nov. 21. The Irish entertain St. Francis (Pa.) on Saturday, Nov. 24 and then take to the hardwood two days later against Chicago State on Monday, Nov. 26 at 7:00 p.m. in what will be the first of two non-conference games to be televised by ESPNU from Purcell Pavilion.
Following its matchup with Kentucky on Nov. 29, Notre Dame concludes the five-game homestand against Brown on Saturday, Dec. 8.
The Irish then head to Indianapolis, Ind., for the second annual Crossroads Classic at Bankers Life Fieldhouse and will face Purdue at 4:30 p.m. in a game that will be televised on ESPN2.
Notre Dame ends its non-conference schedule with three home games against IPFW (Dec. 17), Kennesaw State (Dec. 19) and Niagara (Dec. 21). The contest against Niagara will be televised by ESPNU at 7:00 p.m.
A 15-day hiatus then awaits the Irish before they open up BIG EAST play at home against Seton Hall on Saturday, Jan. 5 at noon. Notre Dame will play four of its first six BIG EAST games in the friendly confines of Purcell Pavilion.
In the first of four Saturday-Monday turnarounds (the most of any league team during the conference regular-season), the Irish play their first true road game of the campaign at Cincinnati on Monday, Jan. 7 at Fifth Third Arena. The game will be televised by ESPN2, but does not mark the official start of the network’s Big Monday broadcasts and is the first of two regular-season contests between the two schools.
Notre Dame then returns home to play three of its next four games, beginning with a matchup against Connecticut on Saturday, Jan. 12. The Irish are then back on the road versus St. John’s at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, Jan. 15 at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN2. Notre Dame and the Red Storm will play each other twice during the 18-game BIG EAST regular-season schedule.
The second Saturday-Monday turnaround occurs four days later when the Irish host Rutgers on Saturday, Jan. 19 and then play Georgetown on Jan. 21.
The Irish end the month of January with a road game at USF on Saturday, Jan. 26 before playing host to Villanova on Wed., Jan. 30 at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN2.
The month of February begins with Notre Dame’s third Saturday-Monday turnaround as the Irish travel to Chicago, Ill., to face DePaul on ESPN2 at 2:00 p.m. and then head to Syracuse N.Y., to take on the Orange on Monday, Feb. 4 at 7:00 p.m. Following the two-game road swing, Notre Dame returns home to face Louisville on Saturday, Feb. 9 and then entertains DePaul on Wednesday, Feb. 13 in the second meeting between the two schools.
The fourth Saturday-Monday turnaround and fourth and fifth road games during the month of February occur in a two-game road swing when the Irish travel to Providence, Rhode Island to take on the Friars on Saturday, Feb. 16, before facing Pittsburgh on Monday, Feb. 18 in its final Big Monday appearance.
Notre Dame plays Cincinnati for the second time during the regular season as the Irish host the Bearcats on Sunday, Feb. 24 in a game to be shown on CBS.
Two of the final three conference regular-season games will be on the road, beginning with a matchup against Marquette at the Bradley Center on Saturday, March 2 at 2:00 p.m. scheduled to be shown on either ESPN or ESPN2.
The final two games of the regular season will be against two of its four repeat opponents. Notre Dame closes out the home season at Purcell Pavilion against St. John’s on Tuesday, March 5 at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN2 and then faces Louisville on CBS in the final regular-season matchup on Saturday, March 9 at 4:00 p.m.
The BIG EAST Championship once again will be played at Madison Square Garden from March 12-16.
Season tickets for the upcoming men’s basketball season currently are on sale with season ticket prices starting at $255.
The 10-game blue pack and six-game pack will go on sale on Thursday, Sept. 13 at 8:30 a.m. Ticket prices for the 10-game package start at $140 and for the six-game pack, prices begin at $80. To purchase tickets, please contact the Notre Dame Ticket Office at 574-631-7356 or online at www.und.com/tickets.