The Big East released its conference basketball schedule Wednesday afternoon and one thing stands out -- the 18-game Big East will be really, really difficult.
Anyway, here it is:
Jan. 3 -- West Virginia at Notre Dame, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Jan. 5 -- Connecticut at Notre Dame, 9 p.m., ESPN (That's a Saturday, so there could be a College Gameday visit in the works)
Jan. 12 -- Notre Dame at Marquette
Jan. 19 -- Notre Dame at Georgetown
Jan. 26 -- Notre Dame at Villanova
Jan. 31 -- Providence at Notre Dame
Feb. 2 -- DePaul at Notre Dame
Feb. 6 -- Notre Dame at Seton Hall
Feb. 9 -- Marquette at Notre Dame, Noon, ESPN
Feb. 13 -- Notre Dame at Connecticut, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Feb. 17 -- Notre Dame at Rutgers
Feb. 21 -- Pittsburgh at Notre Dame, 7 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2
Feb. 24 -- Syracuse at Notre Dame, 2 p.m., CBS
Feb. 28 -- Notre Dame at Louisville, 7 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2
March 2 -- Notre Dame at DePaul
March 5 -- St. John's at Notre Dame
March 8 -- Notre Dame at South Florida
Any game not listed with TV will be on either ESPNU, ESPN Classic, ESPN Regional or ESPN 360.
In a quickie analysis, Notre Dame's schedule from Feb. 21 to Feb. 28 is brutal, as its stretch from the conference opener on Jan. 3 to Jan. 31. It is entirely possible that the Irish could be a better team this year than last but have a worse record.
-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette
Comments