Notre Dame Men’s Basketball: Irish to play Kentucky in SEC/Big East Challenge
By Editorial Staff
Notre Dame is set to play host to last year’s National Champions, the Kentucky Wildcats, in a preseason tournament known as the SEC/Big East Challenge. This is 1 of 12 games to be played over a span of 72 hours (3 days).
Here’s the list of games played during this event.
Day 1-
Kentucky at Notre Dame
Marquette at Florida
Seton Hall at LSU
South Carolina at St. John’s
Day 2
Syracuse plays at Arkansas
DePaul at Auburn
Tennessee at Georgetown
Georgia at South Florida
Day 3
Alabama at Cincinnati
Rutgers at Mississippi
Mississippi State at Providence
Villanova at Vanderbilt
**All games will be shown live on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, or ESPN3.com**
All of these games are interesting and should be fun to watch. From a Notre Dame standpoint, how can one not be excited to see the Irish take one of the best teams in the country. They took down #1 Syracuse last year, why not do it again against Kentucky?
It will be an early test for Mike Brey’s team, but he’s excited for the matchup already.
"“I’m thrilled about this matchup and the opportunity to play Kentucky,” Brey says. “These two schools have a long tradition of playing each other and we’ve been exploring options for renewing the rivalry. With all five of our starters returning next year, this is going to be a great early non-conference test for us. I’m excited that our fans will have the chance to be a part of such a powerful and meaningful game so early on in our season.” –und.com"
It will be the 61st time the Wildcats and Irish face each other. KU historically owns the Irish. The Wildcats are 42-18 when playing the boys from South Bend. However, Notre Dame beat them the last time they played each other in 2009 during the NIT Tournament, 77-67.
This should be a great test for Notre Dame, hopefully one that they are ready for. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS SEC?BIG EAST GAME?