July 2, 2009
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The 2009-10 Notre Dame men’s basketball team is slated to play Cincinnati, Connecticut and USF twice as part of its BIG EAST regular-season schedule during the upcoming campaign.
For the third straight year since expansion to 16 teams, each team will play an 18-game schedule with all teams playing each other at least once and three opponents twice (home and away).
The ’09-’10 season will mark the opening of the newly-renovated Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. In addition to playing the Bearcats, Huskies and Bulls, Notre Dame will play host to DePaul, Pittsburgh, Providence, St. John’s, Syracuse and West Virginia. The nine-game road slate also will include visits to Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Rutgers, Seton Hall and Villanova.
This season will mark the third consecutive campaign the BIG EAST has utilized an 18-game slate as part of its schedule. Prior to the 2007-08 season (the first season of the 18-game schedule), the Conference employed a 16-game schedule and had not played an 18-game conference schedule since 1998-99 when the league had 13 members. The format was used for eight years from 1991-99.
Notre Dame has won 52 of its last 55 home games and tied the BIG EAST mark for consecutive home victories when it beat Seton Hall on Jan. 10 of last season. The Irish produced back-to-back undefeated seasons at home during the 2006-07 and 2007-08 campaigns, the only team in league history to achieve that feat.
Dates and times of all BIG EAST games as well as the entire ’09-’10 season will be released at a later date.
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