Irish fans can't wait to return to Purcell Pavilion. Photo by @LepLegion via Facebook

It is an exciting day for the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. And no, it has nothing to do with football.

Irish basketball has been very much on the rise the past decade or so, and the university expects to have one of the best teams in the country this upcoming season.

Today Notre Dame’s conference schedule was released. The Big East is always a grind for all teams involved, so it is very important to find out when and where you play your biggest foes.

The full schedule (including non-conference games) will be released next week. This afternoon, the conference slate was released by bigeast.org.

1/5 – Seton Hall @ Notre Dame
1/7 – Notre Dame @ Cincinnati
1/12 – UConn @ Notre Dame
1/15 – Notre Dame @ St. John’s
1/19 – Rutgers @ Notre Dame
1/21 – Georgetown @ Notre Dame
1/26 – Notre Dame @ USF
1/30 – Villanova @ Notre Dame
2/2 – Notre Dame @ DePaul
2/4 – Notre Dame @ Syracuse
2/9 – Louisville @ Notre Dame
2/13 – DePaul @ Notre Dame
2/16 – Notre Dame @ Providence
2/18 – Notre Dame @ Pittsburgh
2/24 – Cincinnati @ Notre Dame
3/2 – Notre Dame @ Marquette
3/5 – St. John’s @ Notre Dame
3/9 – Notre Dame @ Louisville