Notre Dame Women’s Basketball has unmatched recent success
April 6, 2019
On Sunday, April 7, Notre Dame’s women’s basketball team will be looking to win back-to-back titles. If they beat the Lady Bears from Baylor, that will give them their third title overall, all since 2000.
But sadly for the Irish, not as many people appreciate their greatness. According to Sports Media Watch, their Regional Final win versus Stanford only was able to garner a .7 viewership rating. Another team in the state, Purdue’s men’s basketball team, had their Regional Final loss to Virginia receive a 5.9 viewership rating, nearly a cable record for a college basketball game.
It simply does not make sense based off the success they have had. If their accomplishments are compared to the rest of the state, they are unmatched. In men’s basketball, women’s basketball and football (the three sports in which Indiana has top-level pro teams and college teams), there have been four titles since 2000. Notre Dame’s women have half of them.
If it is narrowed down to just men’s and women’s college basketball, Notre Dame’s women’s team still are the best. Since 2000, the state of Indiana has accounted for 12 Final Four appearances. Eight of those belong to Notre Dame.
Their head coach, Muffet McGraw, stands as one of the most decorated coaches in college basketball history. She has won 13 awards for single-season coaching performances. In 2017, McGraw was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. At Notre Dame, she has won 835 games, and she has won 922 overall. According to a Newsday, those wins put her eighth all-time for most wins by a college basketball coach, men’s or women’s.
Will McGraw and her Irish score their third national title on Sunday? That is for them and Baylor to figure out on the court. But regardless of the result, the Notre Dame women’s basketball team is the standard for other teams in the state.