It was announced on Friday that the Notre Dame and UCLA Basketball teams will begin a home-and-home series starting in 2018.
At least one opponent is set in stone for the next two non-conference seasons for the UCLA Basketball team as it was announced today that the Bruins will take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in 2018 and 2019.
RELATED: Predicting UCLA Basketball ‘s conference record for 2017-18
This is the first time UCLA and Notre Dame have scheduled a home-and-home since the 2008-09 and 2009-2010 seasons.
UCLA announces it will play host to Notre Dame in basketball in December 2018 and travel to South Bend in December 2019.
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) August 4, 2017
Notre Dame will travel to Westwood in December of 2018 for the first part of their series at Pauley Pavilion, followed by UCLA traveling to South Bend, Indiana for a game at the Edmund P. Joyce Center in December,ber of 2019.
In recent seasons, UCLA Basketball Head Coach Steve Alford has tried to fill his team’s non-conference schedule with tougher opponents. This next season, the Bruins take on Creighton, Baylor or Wisconsin, Michigan, Cincinnati and Kentucky. Brutal.
This latest series continues that trend as Notre Dame, under Head Coach Mike Brey, has been a contender in almost every season since he took over in 2000. Last season, the Fighting Irish finished 24-12 and made it as far as the Elite 8, the second time they achieved that feat in two seasons.
UCLA had a resurgence of their own last year as UCLA bounced back from a 15-17 season to go 31-5 with a trip back to the Sweet Sixteen. Along with that, the Bruins bring in the #4 recruiting class in the nation according to 247Sports.com.
Next: The UCLA Basketball All-Time Team
UCLA and Notre Dame have a little bit of history between them. On December 19, 1074, Notre Dame defeated UCLA 71-70 to snap the Bruins’ and Head Coach John Wooden’s 88-game win streak. Can another rivalry be Bruin? Irish!