June 24, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – For the fourth consecutive season, Notre Dame will meet Connecticut in a home-and-home series during the 2010-11 BIG EAST regular season. The conference regular-season matrix for the upcoming campaign was released on Thursday. In addition to the Huskies, the Irish also are slated to play Marquette and St. John’s twice next season.
The ’10-’11 season will mark the fourth year since expansion to 16 teams that the Conference will employ an 18-game regular-season slate with all teams playing each at least once and three opponents twice (home and away).
Notre Dame’s single-game home opponents at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center for the upcoming season will be Cincinnati, Georgetown, Louisville, Rutgers, Seton Hall and Villanova. The nine-game road slate also will feature visits to DePaul, Pittsburgh, Providence, USF, Syracuse and West Virginia.
This season will mark fourth year of the 18-game schedule, which began during the 2007-08 campaign. Prior to that 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.
All 144 regular-season conference games will again be televised either by CBS Sports, the ESPN family of networks or ESPN Regional Television.
In ’09-’10, the BIG EASTE tied its own NCAA record by placing eight schools in the 64-team tournament, including Notre Dame which finished with a 23-12 mark and 10-8 record in league play.
The decisions regarding repeat opponents are based on natural interest, geography, rivalries, television contractual obligations and competitive balance.
The full 2010-11 conference schedule will be announced at a later date.