BY LOU SOMOGYI
A
lthough Notre Dame's athletics
programs will always be renowned
first and foremost with its football his‑
tory, no school during the 2014‑15 aca‑
demic year combined better hardwood
prowess in both men's and women's
basketball than the Fighting Irish.
By the 1960s, collegiate athletic pro‑
grams across the country were gen‑
erally demarcated as either football
schools (Notre Dame, USC, Alabama,
Oklahoma, Ohio State, Michigan …) or
basketball schools (Kentucky, Indiana,
North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA, Duke
…). To excel in both during the same
academic year was rare.
Yet Notre Dame often finished in the
Associated Press top 10 in both sports
from 1968‑81. It was highlighted in
1973‑74 with a national title in football
(11‑0) and No. 5 finish in basketball
(26‑3), and in 1977‑78 with another
consensus championship in football
(11‑1) and the lone Final Four appear‑
ance in basketball (23‑8). That marked
the only time in NCAA annals that a
team won it all in football and also ad‑
vanced to the Final Four in basketball
— until Florida won it in both sports
in 2006‑07.
The football‑basketball excellence
UNDER THE DOME
'BASKETBALL U.'
Notre Dame men's and women's teams
had nation's best combination
The Irish men defeated NIT runner-up Miami,
national champion Duke and perennial power
North Carolina to capture the ACC championship,
and then advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA
Tournament.
PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN
