Dec. 10, 2002

The University of Notre Dame currently joins Duke and Connecticut as the only schools ranked in the Associated Press top 10 for both men’s and women’s basketball – with the Irish having the unique distinction of also finishing in the top 10 of the final college football Bowl Championship Series.

Six Notre Dame sports teams already have been ranked in the national top 10 as some point this season, including men’s and women’s soccer and women’s cross country (plus the above three sports). Notre Dame qualified for national postseason competition in all six of its 2002 fall sports – men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross country, volleyball and football – with no other school able to match that NCAA/bowl-game participation in all six of those fall sports.

Notre Dame currently checks in at No. 10 in the AP men’s basketball poll and is eighth in the AP women’s basketball poll (Duke is No. 3 in the men’s poll and top-ranked in the women’s while UConn is ninth and third, respectively).