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Holtz and NCAA Championship 1988
In contrast to Faust, Holtz was well known as a master motivator and a strict disciplinarian. The tone was set with Holtz’s first meeting with his team as Irish head coach in 1986, immediately demanding his players sit up straight in their chairs and look him in the eye as he spoke. He displayed the latter trait in spades when two of his top contributing players showed up late for dinner right before the then top-ranked Irish played second-ranked USC in the final regular-season game of 1988. In a controversial move, coach Lou Holtz took his 10–0 Irish squad to Los Angeles without stars Ricky Watters and Tony Brooks, who he suspended for disciplinary reasons. This was not the first time these players had gotten into trouble and the players had been warned there would be serious consequences if it happened again. His move was vindicated when the Irish defeated USC anyway. Holtz was named national coach of the year (Paul “Bear” Bryant Award) in 1988, the same season he took Notre Dame to an upset of No. 1 Miami in the Catholics vs. Convicts series and a win over No. 3 West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl, thus capturing the national championship. The Irish finished a perfect 12–0 in 1988, its last undefeated season and a national championship to date.
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ND Baseball Wins Champs 2013
The 2013 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s soccer team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 2013 NCAA Division I men’s soccer season. It was the 37th season of the university fielding a program. The Irish were coached by 13th-year head coach Bobby Clark and sixth-year assistant coach, B. J. Craig, who was promoted to associate head coach prior to the season’s start. Additionally, the coaching staff consisted of a second-year assistant coach, Greg Dalby.
The 2013 season was the Irish’s first year winning an NCAA title. The Irish finished the season with 17–1–6 record and defeated Wisconsin, Wake Forest, Michigan State, New Mexico, and Maryland en route to the championship. Additionally, the Irish won the ACC regular season with a 7–1–3 record.
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Women’s Basketball Champs for ND
After an injury-plagued start to the 2017–18 season, which saw four Irish players lost to injury, Notre Dame won its second National Championship by beating Mississippi State 61–58. Junior guard Arike Ogunbowale scored the game-winning three-point shot with 1/10th of a second left, two days after scoring a similar buzzer-beater to knock out Connecticut in the semifinal game. The win was coach McGraw’s second national championship and 800th win at Notre Dame. Four of the returning five starters, including Ogunbowle, Jackie Young, Marina Mabry, and Jessica Shepard, returned to the Final Four the following year. The Irish would beat Uconn 81-76 before falling by 1 point to Baylor, 82-81.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 23 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA’s Division I in all sports, with many teams competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Notre Dame is one of only 16 universities in the United States that plays Division I FBS football and Division I men’s ice hockey. The school colors are Gold and Blue and the mascot is the Leprechaun. It was founded on November 23, 1887 with football in South Bend, Indiana.
College Sports Established
1894
Location
Notre Dame, Indiana
College Name
University of Notre Dame
Collegiate History
1973 – Present / NCAA Division 1
1919 – 1973 / University Division of the NCAA
Conference History
2013 – Present / ACC Conference
1995 – 2013 / Big East Conference
1978 – 1995 / Division I Independent
1894 – 1978 / Unknown
Nickname
Fighting Irish – Notre Dame competed under the nickname “Catholics” during the 1800s and became more widely known as the “Ramblers” during the early 1920s in the days of the Four Horsemen.
The most generally accepted explanation of the nickname is that the press coined the nickname as a characterization of Notre Dame athletic teams, their never-say-die fighting spirit and the Irish qualities of grit, determination and tenacity. The term likely began as an abusive expression tauntingly directed toward the athletes from the small, private, Catholic institution. Notre Dame alumnus Francis Wallace popularized it in his New York Daily News columns in the 1920s.
NCAA Championships
Baseball 2
1994, 1951
Men’s Basketball 0
Women’s Basketball 2
2018, 2001
Football 13
1988, 1977, 1973, 1966, 1964, 1949, 1947, 1946, 1943, 1930, 1929, 1924, 1919
Soccer 1
2013
