The exact page text, read by your browser's voice.
1992 – 1996
The first bid: The 1991–92 team finished 14–17 — a losing record — but won the MCC tournament, and with it the program's first NCAA tournament bid, fourteen seasons after varsity status. Sent to Los Angeles, Notre Dame lost its first-round game at UCLA 72–93. The score matters less than the fact: the program was in the tournament it would come to define its seasons by.
The second bid: The 1993–94 team, MCC champions both ways, hosted its first NCAA game and lost it, 76–81 to Minnesota at the Joyce Center. It was the program's last season of tournament frustration at that level; the next entry in the program's tournament record is a win.
The Big East move: In 1995 Notre Dame left the MCC for the Big East, the league of Connecticut and the eastern powers, and the move changed the program's measuring stick permanently. The first Big East team, 1995–96, went 23–8 and won the program's first NCAA tournament game, beating Purdue 73–60 in a first-round game at Lubbock, Texas, before losing to Texas Tech. The Purdue win is a marker worth holding: five years later the same opponent would stand across the floor in the national championship game.
Sources:
- University record book, NCAA tournament history — the 1992 game at UCLA (72–93); the 1994 home loss to Minnesota (76–81); the 1996 win over Purdue (73–60) at Lubbock.
- University media guide, year-by-year results — the 1991–92 team's 14–17 mark and MCC tournament title; the 1995 conference change.