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SOUTH BEND — Make February and March mean something.

Make that, make February and March home games mean something.

That’s the initial reaction to the Notre Dame men’s basketball schedule, which was released Tuesday night on ACC Network less than 24 hours before the Irish officially started practice. We have dates. We have opponents. We have games. Some tip times and television designations will have to wait, but otherwise, it’s officially basketball season.

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The annual schedule release feels like Christmas morning, minus the cookies and milk. What presents await this season? Does everything fit? Is there something we didn’t expect there in the corner? What might the season bring? Joy? Happiness? Worry?

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That’s for the coaches to consider. For us, we’ve got games. Thirty-one of them that will take Notre Dame from the Nevada desert (three in Las Vegas during Thanksgiving week), to Boston and Washington and Miami and all Atlantic Coast Conference stops in between.

That also means 16 home games, where Notre Dame must make league home games again matter to improve upon last year’s finish of 13-20 overall, 7-13 and tied for 12th place in the ACC. It marked the first time in program history that the Irish lost at least 20 games in consecutive seasons.

In 2021-22, Notre Dame won a school record 15 ACC games. It went 14-1 overall at home, 9-1 in league play. It’s since been a struggle. Notre Dame was 9-8 at home overall, 3-7 in league play, in former coach Mike Brey’s final season (2022-23). Last season, it went 9-8 overall, 5-5 in league play.

Good teams aren’t average at home. Just the opposite. They rarely lose. Especially if postseason is the plan. There’s a belief around Notre Dame that it can be in the plans this season. Forget the NIT. They’re talking NCAA.

Really.

That might be too big a leap after last season. If the Irish can get to .500 or something just above in the ACC – 10-10, 11-9, even 12-8 – it would be a solid second step in coach Micah Shrewsberry’s second season. Especially if it follows Shrewsberry’s stated blueprint of those guys getting better as the season unfolds.

Notre Dame improved as last year unfolded. Though January and early February, the Irish lost seven straight and nine of 10. As the season wound down, Notre Dame won five of six and six of 10. Not great, but also not awful. Some wondered if the Irish, with a new staff and a rebuilt roster, might go 0-20.

Really.

If Notre Dame can get to mid-February near the break-even line in the league, it has a chance. The Irish close the regular season with five of seven and six of the last nine at Purcell Pavilion. None of those last six opponents —Virginia Tech, Louisville, SMU, Pittsburgh, Stanford, California — are NCAA tournament lock type of teams. There are wins out there.

Win them then, because wins prior to that will be a tough ask. It’s great that Notre Dame closes ACC play with so many home games. It doesn’t open that way. True, Notre Dame gets a home game to start conference play (Syracuse on December 7) but once 2025 arrives, with a New Year’s Eve 2024 game at Georgia Tech, an ACC stretch starts of seven of 10 (half the league schedule) away from home, where Notre Dame went 2-8 last season.

Can’t go 2-8 again if you want to play in postseason.

And, no, that’s not a misprint. Thanks to myriad reasons — final exams, Christmas break, the transition from non-conference to conference play — Notre Dame has only five games in December. That’s it. That’s the fewest for the Irish in a December since they played five in 2010. The Irish were on track for only four games in December before the league moved up a New Year's Day game one day to another year and another month. That’s just bizarre.

Historically, Decembers see Notre Dame play six to seven games.

For seemingly the 12^th straight season (coincidence that that’s how long the Irish have been in the ACC?), Notre Dame has a home game against one of the league’s marquee programs with the student body on winter break. Last year, it was Duke, which visited January 6. This year, it’s North Carolina, a likely Top 10 preseason team, which visits January 4.

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Looking for Notre Dame hooks in non-conference opponents? How about visits from Buffalo (November 11), Elon (November 22) and LeMoyne (December 22)? Former Irish assistant coach Hamlet Tibbs is an assistant at Buffalo. Former Irish forward and assistant coach Billy Taylor is in his third season as the head coach of Elon. Former Irish guard Robby Carmody is in his first season at LeMoyne after playing last season at Mercer.

The ACC balloons to 18 teams this season with additions of SMU (American Athletic Conference) and Pac-12 refugees California and Stanford. Notre Dame gets all three at home, and closes the regular season with visits from likely road-weary Stanford and Cal.

Expansion sliced the number of repeat opponents in half — from six to three. Notre Dame’s repeats are Boston College and Georgia Tech, which have been permanent opponents since the Irish joined the league in 2013-14, and Syracuse.

☘ 2024-25 NOTRE DAME MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE

Home games in ALL CAPS

All times Eastern (South Bend time).

☘ October

30 Wednesday at Purdue Fort Wayne (exhibition), 7 p.m.

☘ November

6 Wednesday STONEHILL; 11 Monday BUFFALO; 16 Saturday at Georgetown; 19 Tuesday NORTH DAKOTA; 22 Friday ELON; 26 Tuesday Rutgers (Las Vegas; Players Era Festival) 10:30 p.m. (TBS); 27 Wednesday Houston (Las Vegas; Players Era Festival) 12:30 a.m. (TBS); 30 Saturday Alabama (Las Vegas; Players Era Festival) 1 p.m. (tru).

☘ December

3 Tuesday at Georgia (ACC/SEC Challenge) 7 p.m. (ESPNU); 7 Saturday SYRACUSE, Noon (CW); 11 Wednesday DARTMOUTH; 22 Sunday LEMOYNE. 6 (ACCN); 31 Tuesday at Georgia Tech.

☘ January

4 Saturday NORTH CAROLINA; 8 Wednesday at North Carolina State; 11 Saturday at Duke; 13 Monday BOSTON COLLEGE 7 (ACCN); 18 Saturday at Syracuse 4 (ACCN); 25 Saturday at Virginia TBD (ESPN/2/U); 28 Tuesday GEORGIA TECH 9 (ESPN2).

☘ February

1 Saturday at Miami (Fla.); 4 Tuesday at Florida State 7 (ACCN); 8 Saturday VIRGINIA TECH 1 (CW); 12 Wednesday at Boston College 9 (ESPN2/U); 16 Sunday LOUISIVLLE 8 (ACCN); 19 Wednesday SMU 7 (ACCN); 22 Saturday PITTSBURGH 2:15 (CW); 26 Wednesday at Clemson 7 (ACCN).

☘ March

1 Saturday at Wake Forest 5:30 (CW); 5 Wednesday STANFORD 9 (ESPN2/U); 8 Saturday CALIFORNIA TBD (ESPNU); 11-15 At ACC Tournament, Charlotte, North Carolina, TBD.

Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on Twitter: @tnoieNDI

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame men's basketball learns of path to success in 2024-25