Notre Dame men’s basketball will get a rare true road game at Georgia this upcoming season. It was announced Wednesday that the Fighting Irish and Bulldogs will play in Athens, Ga., as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge on Tuesday, Dec. 3.
Notre Dame and Georgia have matched up four times previously. Each one of those games was played at an off-campus location. The two met at The Omni in Atlanta as part of the Nike Super Shootout in 1994. Sixteen years later, they played for the second time at HP Fieldhouse in Bay Lake, Fla., in the Old Spice Classic.
In 2011, Notre Dame and Georgia faced off at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo., in the Progressive CBE Classic. Two years ago, the Irish and Bulldogs went head-to-head at State Farm Arena in Atlanta as part of Holiday Hoopsgiving.
Notre Dame won the first two meetings, 88-85 in Atlanta and 89-83 in double overtime in Florida. Georgia has won the last two, 61-57 in Kansas City and 77-62 in Atlanta.
Mike White is in his third season as the head coach at Georgia after seven at Florida. He coached the Bulldogs to that 15-point win in the Holiday Hoopsgiving tournament two years ago. That Notre Dame team was coached by Mike Brey in what ended up being his final season in South Bend after nearly a quarter-century.
White squares off against Micah Shrewsberry this time. The Irish went 13-20 (7-13 ACC) in Shrewsberry’s first year at the helm, but they finished the season strong winning 6 of their final 10 games after dropping 9 of their previous 10. Georgia went 16-16 in White’s first year there and 20-17 last year. The Bulldogs posted a 6-12 conference record in each season.
Georgia’s roster was ravaged by the transfer portal after the Bulldogs made a run to the NIT semifinals last season. Seven players committed to new programs. An additional three ran out of eligibility, leaving only three returning players. The Bulldogs reloaded with five transfer portal additions and three freshmen signees.
Notre Dame, meanwhile, took in two transfer portal adds and three freshmen signees. Shrewsberry has been caught squarely in the midst of a full rebuild after the program tapered off at the end of the Brey era. Going against a Georgia team that is trying to find footing early in the White regime offers the Irish a nice shot at a solid non-conference game early in the season, though.
The post Notre Dame men’s basketball to face Georgia in ACC/SEC Challenge appeared first on On3.