When a college athletics program has enjoyed the sustained success that the Notre Dame women’s basketball team has during the last decade, generating any pre-game excitement through the regular season is always a difficult mission.
The Irish (16-1, 5-0 ACC) are beating their opponents by 20 points a game so far. And other than the annual regular-season game against Connecticut, Notre Dame is rarely tested until NCAA Tournament time, often making the dog days of winter a bit mundane for the Irish faithful.
With a No. 3 ranking, Notre Dame has appeared in the AP top-25 poll for 165 consecutive weeks — that dates all the way back to the start of the 1997 season — including 95 straight weeks in the top 10.