In some ways, we’ve reached the Southeastern Conference portion of the Notre Dame basketball season/schedule.
What’s the motto of the league that sometimes acts/believes/operates as if it invented college football? It just means more. Say the same for Notre Dame’s final 18 regular-season games.
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There was a lot to see and a lot to unpack from the completed 13-game non-conference run. The seven-game home win streak snapped shockingly by Purdue Fort Wayne. The win over Missouri. The overtime win at TCU. The near-miss at Ohio State. The not-ready-for-prime-time losses to Houston and Kansas. The injury loss of guard Markus Burton. The ascension of freshman guard Jalen Haralson. The possibility that this season might mean something.
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All key moments, but what happens from here on out will mean more, maybe everything, for the 2025-26 season for Notre Dame. Nine home games. Nine road games. Eighteen league games will determine where all of this is headed.
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Where is it? League play will say. It just means more.
Notre Dame basketball (9-4 overall; 0-0 ACC)versus Stanford (10-2; 0-0)
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Date: Tuesday, December 30
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Start time: 9 p.m. (South Bend time).
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Site: Maples Pavilion (7,233), Palo Alto, California
What channel is Notre Dame basketball at Stanford on?
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Radio: 960 WSBT-AM in South Bend. Also on SiriusXM and ACC Radio on channels 955 and 956. You can also listen live free on Audacy.
Series history between Notre Dame basketball and Stanford
Notre Dame leads 4-0, including 1-0 at Maples Pavilion (only visit was January 12, 1993, a 67-61 win) and 1-0 as ACC colleagues.
The teams met once last season, Stanford’s first in the ACC. Guard Markus Burton scored 24 points with seven rebounds and one assist and Tae Davis added nine points, eight rebounds and four assists in a 56-54 Irish victory at Purcell Pavilion on March 5, 2025.
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Notre Dame trailed by nine with 8:51 before a late comeback culminated in a Cole Certa corner 3-pointer with 18 seconds remaining and helped clinch an ACC tournament berth.
Stanford is one of two repeat league opponents (Boston College) this season.
Notre Dame basketball vs. Stanford storylines
∎ This starts a stretch of six of the first 10 league games on the road for Notre Dame, which is a combined 4-16 (2-8 each season) on the road in ACC play the last two years.
∎ Notre Dame was picked in preseason to finish 10th in the 18-team ACC; Stanford was slotted 17th. Both programs believe they can make a move toward the middle of the league. Which one will?
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∎ Stanford ranks 17th — next to last — in the ACC for average home attendance at 2,753 per game in Maples Pavilion, the league’s smallest venue (7,233). The Cardinal’s largest home crowd to date was 3,981 for UNLV, a 75-74 Stanford loss. There likely will be few fans for this one, which offers the visitors a chance to settle in and get a rare league road win.
Keep an eye on …
Notre Dame PF Carson Towt
In some ways, the non-conference was the easy part for the graduate student from Gilbert, Arizona, who averaged 6.6 points, 10.2 rebounds in 26.4 minutes while shooting .613 percent from the field and .455 percent from the foul line.
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Why easy? The 6-foot-8, 250-pound Towt rarely saw the size, length and athleticism he’s going to see regularly in the ACC. Defenders will be quicker and longer. How will he adapt/adjust his game?
Towt needs to average more than the 4.7 field goal attempts per game, but he can’t lose sight of his ability to facilitate offense (third on the team in assists at 27). He’s not your classic low-post ACC guy, but he can still find ways to be effective. This is a young/inexperienced Irish core, which means he’s got to be the old guy — the steady guy — every night for the Irish to succeed.
Stanford G Ebuka Okorie
Just when you thought Notre Dame had seen enough of a good guard who can score it coming clear of the loss to Purdue Fort Wayne and junior guard Corey Hadnot, who went for 29 points, here’s Okorie, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound freshman.
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The Gatorade player of the year at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire last season, Okorie is second in the ACC (behind fellow freshman Cameron Boozer from Duke) in scoring at 22.1 ppg. He’s had six games of at least 21 points and five of at least 25, including a career best 32 points last time out in a 77-68 victory over Colorado.
Okorie also averages 3.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 32.7 minutes. He’s shooting.438 percent from the field, .321 percent from 3 and .815 percent from the foul line. Notre Dame’s perimeter had no answer for Hadnot on December 21. Can it find a few more against Okorie?
Notre Dame basketball 2025-26 schedule
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Oct. 17 at Butler (W, 77-76) Exhibition
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Oct. 24 DEPAUL (L, 69-62) Exhibition
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Nov. 3 LIU BROOKLYN (W, 89-67; 1-0)
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Nov. 7 DETROIT MERCY (W, 102-70; 2-0)
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Nov. 11 EASTERN ILLINOIS, (W, 78-58; 3-0)
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Nov. 16 At Ohio State, (L, 64-63; 3-1)
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Nov. 19 BELLARMINE (W, 86-79; 4-1)
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Nov. 24 vs Kansas (L, 71-61; 4-2)
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Nov. 25 vs Rutgers (W, 68-63; 5-2)
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Nov. 26 vs. Houston (L, 66-56; 5-3)
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Dec. 2 MISSOURI (W 76-71; 6-3)
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Dec. 5 At TCU (W, 87-85 OT; 7-3)
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Dec. 10 IDAHO, (W, 80-65; 8-3)
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Dec. 13 EVANSVILLE, (W, 82-58; 9-3)
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Dec. 21 PURDUE FORT WAYNE, (L, 72-69; 9-4)
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Dec. 30 At Stanford, 9 p.m. (ESPN2)
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Jan. 2 At California, 11 p.m. (ESPN2)
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Jan. 10 CLEMSON, 6 p.m. (ESPN2/U)
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Jan. 13 MIAMI (Fla.), 7 p.m. (ESPN2/U)
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Jan. 17 At Virginia Tech, 12 p.m. (ACCN)
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Jan. 21 At North Carolina, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
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Jan. 24 BOSTON COLLEGE, 6 p.m. (ACCN)
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Jan. 27 VIRGINIA, 7 p.m. (ESPN2/U)
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Jan. 31 At Syracuse, 6 p.m., (The CW)
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Feb. 4 At Louisville, 7 p.m. (ESPN/U)
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Feb. 7 FLORIDA STATE, 4 p.m. (ACCN)
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Feb. 10 At SMU, 7 p.m. (ACCN)
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Feb. 14 GEORGIA TECH, 12 p.m. (The CW)
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Feb. 21 At Pittsburgh, 2 p.m. (ACCN)
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Feb. 24 DUKE, 7 p.m. (ESPN2/U)
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Feb. 28 NORTH CAROLINA STATE, 12 p.m. (The CW)
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March 3 STANFORD, 9 p.m. (ESPNU)
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March 7 At Boston College, 12 p.m. (ESPNU)
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March 10-14 ACC Tournament (Charlotte) TBD.
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at tnoie@sbtinfo.com
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This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Ready or not, here comes the ACC opener for Notre Dame basketball
