Notre Dame completed the 2014-15 regular season with a 26-5 record. The record was 20-10 this season. The 2015 conference record was 14-4, third best in the ACC. It was 11-7 in 2016, good for fifth place. The 2014-15 season always felt like it was building to something substantial. The 2015-16 season had as many steps backward as it had steps forward. The Irish won the ACC Tournament in 2015. They split a pair of ACC Tournament games in 2016.
The 2015-16 Notre Dame basketball team can be considered comparable to its predecessor in precisely one way. Both teams made it to the NCAA Tournament’s round of eight.