Muffet McGraw’s Legacy at Notre Dame By the Numbers

For nearly three decades, the Notre Dame women’s basketball program has been one of the most consistent in all of college basketball, and head coach Muffet McGraw has been the transcendent ingredient.

In her 29th season at the helm, McGraw has built a reputation that can only be compared to those of the all-time greats. A month ago, McGraw eclipsed 800 wins in her career to become the 10th coach in NCAA Divison I women’s history to reach the feat. Her most recent success, however, has extended her legacy far beyond the women’s game.

To properly illustrate just how impressive McGraw’s accomplishments have been, let’s let the numbers do the talking.

26

The number of seasons in which McGraw’s Fighting Irish have had at least 20 wins. She has led them to NCAA Tournaments berths in 22 of those seasons, with her only national title coming in 2001.

167

The number of consecutive weeks that Notre Dame has been ranked in the AP top 25, extending a program record that dates back to the 2007-08 preseason poll. During this decade, the Irish have been ranked in the AP top 10 for 109 of 120 weeks, including the past 97 consecutively.

7

The number of Final Four appearances Notre Dame has made during McGraw’s tenure. She joins Connecticut women’s coach Geno Auriemma, former Tennessee women’s coach Pat Summit, Duke men’s coach Mike Krzyzewski, and the late North Carolina men’s coach Dean Smith as the only coaches in Division I history to win at least 800 games, appear in the Final Four at least seven times, and play in the national title game at least 5 times.

McGraw is the only one of those coaches not yet in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Her Fighting Irish have gone to the Final Four in each of the last five seasons, finishing as the runner up four times.

She’s taken this program to a place where it’s annually in the conversation for the national championship

46-1

Notre Dame’s record against ACC opponents since joining the conference before the 2013-14 season. The Irish have won the ACC regular season and tournament titles in both seasons since then.

3

The number of times that McGraw has been named the consensus National Coach of the Year, sweeping the four major coaching awards (Associated Press, WBCA, Naismith Award and USBWA) in 2001, 2013 and 2014. She is the fist NCAA Division I coach to sweep the “Big Four” awards three times in her career.

19

The number of consecutive top-20 recruiting classes brought in by McGraw. Notre Dame is one of only three schools that can claim that streak. McGraw has coached 27 women who have gone on to play in the WNBA, and 15 who have been selected to play on the USA or Canadian national teams.

These numbers just scratch the surface of what McGraw has done for women’s basketball at Notre Dame. She is by far the winningest basketball coach in school history, and the 60-year-old hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down soon.  In 2012, McGraw signed a 10-year contract extension that will keep her on the sideline for the Fighting Irish through the 2021-22 season.

“She’s taken this program to a place where it’s annually in the conversation for the national championship, which is the model all coaches want to follow,” University vice president and director of athletics Jack Swarbrick said after McGraw was given the extension “She’s also playing an important role in the game nationally, and her peers recognize those contributions, as well as the quality of her program here at Notre Dame.”

In the ongoing 2015-16 campaign, Notre Dame is 20-1 overall and undefeated in ACC play at 8-0. Their only loss on the season came against Auriemma’s Connecticut Huskies, who have beaten the Irish in the past two national championship games. The Fighting Irish are currently ranked third in the nation, and they could be on a crash course to play Connecticut late in the tournament yet again. Could this finally be the year McGraw is able to take down her bitter rival?