Poll Results: Who will contribute most to the Irish next year?

Luke Harangody: 66%

Kyle McAlarney: 26%

Tory Jackson : 4%

Zach Hillesland 2%

It's tough competing against the Big East player of the year.

Sports Illustrated Cover

In their college basketball pre-season poll the Irish come in ranked 6.  The Irish will play their first game on Sunday, it is sure to be a blow-out but will be exciting to watch.  This is one of the few Irish games that won't be nationally televised this season, however for those who wish to watch; go to UND.com and under the mens basketball schedule their will be a link to watch the game online for free.

AP Top 25, Irish to Set to Play Top 5 Teams

The AP has the Irish ranked 9 just as ESPN/USA Today does. The top 5 however is slightly different; 1. North Carolina, 2. UConn, 3. Louisville, 4. UCLA, 5. Pittsburgh. It's for sure that the Irish will play UConn, Louisville, UCLA, and Pittsburgh (the Huskies twice as a matter of fact.) North Carolina is likely. The Irish and North Carolina will both play in the annual Maui Invitational Tournament, I can't imagine either of the teams not making it to the finals.

So just how hard is Notre Dame's schedule? Beside playing the top 5 teams in the country, they will also face another 3 teams in the Top 25 and then compete in the toughest conference there
is.

The full poll:

Irish Name Captains, Defeat Briar Cliff, 103-64

Kyle McAlarney, Luke Zeller, Ryan Ayers, and Zach Hillesland have been named the captains for the 2008-2009 season and it marks the 5th time in Notre Dame history that the role of captain has been shared by 4 players.  

Notre Dame also played their first exhibition game of the season on Halloween night and easily defeated the Briar Cliff Charger.  All 5 starters scored in double digits, Ayers was on fire the whole night with 21 points, Jackson contributed with a game-high 18 points, Harangody had yet another double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, and McAlarney and Zeller added 11 and 12 points.  Tim Abromiatis saw good minutes and picked up 8 points and 4 rebounds, and Charleton Scott also had a good night with 6 points and 4 rebounds.  

Irish Nationally Recognized

The first pre-season poll came out today and is good news for the Irish and the other teams in the Big East.  The Irish are ranked 9th in the new ESPN/USA Today Preseason poll, the highest pre-season coaches poll ranking ever for Notre Dame.  The last two seasons Notre Dame was not recognized in preseason polls even though both seasons resulted in at-large NCAA bids.  This year however, is different.  With pretty much everyone returning the Irish are now a team to be reckoned with.  

Irish Previous Pre-season Rankings

2006-2007:

Preseason Conference Rank: 12

Actual Rank: 4

Preseason National Rank: None

Actual Rank: 21

2007-2008:

Preseason Conference Rank: 9

Actual Rank: 2

Preseason National Rank: None

Actual Rank: 14

Here is the full poll which includes 7 Big East teams.

Pre-season Big East Poll (Vote)

1. Connecticut

2. Louisville

3. Pittsburgh

4. Notre Dame

5. Villanova

6. Marquette

7. Georgetown

8. Syracuse

9. West Virginia

10. Providence

11. Cincinnati

12. Rutgers

13. Seton Hall

14. St. John's

15. DePaul

16. USF

Notre Dame has been underestimated in the preseason polls for the last 3 seasons and I don't think season will be an exception.  Notre Dame will certainly live up to their current 4 ranking in the conference and most likely be better than it.

On the side you can vote for who YOU think will win the Big East this year.

Notre Dame 08-09 Schedule Announced

Months after some conferences released their teams schedules, the Big East has finally got there schedule out.  The bigger games are in blue. Here is the toughest season ever for the Irish:

Non-Conference Games

November 18: VS South Carolina Upstate

November 21: AT Loyola Marymount

Maui Classic

November 30: VS Furman

December 1: VS South Dakota

December 6: Ohio State (neutral site)

December 13: VS Boston University

December 20: VS Delaware State

December 22: VS Savannah State

*Road Games in December yet to be officially announced

Conference Play

December 31: AT DePaul

January 3: AT St. John's

January 5: VS Georgetown

January 10: VS Seton Hall

January 12: AT Louisville

January 17: AT Syracuse

January 24: VS Connecticut

January 26: AT Marquette

January 31: AT Pittsburgh 

February 4: VS Cincinnati 

February 7: AT UCLA

February 12: VS Louisville

February 15: VS South Florida

February 18: AT West Virginia

February 21: AT Providence

February 25: VS Rutgers

February 28: AT Connecticut

March 2: VS Villanova

March 6: VS St. John's

This season the team will have 14 games covered on the ESPN family and will have 2 nationally televised games on CBS.  The games not covered by these stations will likely be locally broadcasted and available through the ESPN full court college basketball television package.