March 8, 2009
NOTRE DAME, Ind. –
2008 BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Championship Bracket 
The Notre Dame men’s basketball team has earned the No. 10 seed for the 2009 BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Championship that will take place March 10-14 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, N.Y.. The Irish (17-13, 8-10) will face No. 15 seed Rutgers (11-20, 2-16) in first round action on Tuesday, March 10 at 7:00 p.m. (ET).
The BIG EAST, in conjunction with its Digital Media partner, JumpTV, will offer exclusive free live video streams of the four first-round games through the conference’s official streaming video platform, BIGEAST.tv.
Notre Dame finished tied for ninth with Cincinnati in the final regular-season standings, but the Bearcats earned the No. 9 seed in the tournament by virtue of their 93-83 win over the Irish during the regular season. Notre Dame is 4-13 all-time in BIG EAST Tournament action and 3-8 under head coach Mike Brey. Irish teams have advanced to the semifinals (both under Brey) on two occasions — 2002 and 2007.
The Irish lead the all-time series against Rutgers 15-11 and have won four straight over the Scarlet Knights. This will be the third time meeting in BIG EAST championship play between the two schools with each team earning a victory. Notre Dame defeated the Scarlet Knights 74-62 in first-round action of the 2000 championship to post the first-ever win by an Irish team in the BIG EAST Tournament. In 2005, Rutgers handed Notre Dame a 72-65 setback in the first round.
This will be the second meeting of the season between the teams. The Irish won the only regular-season matchup when they registered a 70-65 victory at the Joyce Center on Feb. 25. Notre Dame is 9-4 all-time against Rutgers under Brey.
A win against the Scarlet Knights in the first round would pit Notre Dame against No. 7 West Virginia (21-10, 10-8) in second round action. That contest would be played on Wednesday evening, March 11 at 7:00 p.m. (ET) and will be shown live on ESPN. The Mountaineers defeated the Irish earlier this season, 79-68, in Morgantown, W. Va. Following first-round action, all second round, quarterfinal, semifinal and championship game contests will be shown live on ESPN.