# 1977–78 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team

The 1977–78 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1977–78 NCAA men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Digger Phelps and played their home games at the Joyce Center.
Notre Dame entered the season with high expectations, as they opened with an AP preseason ranking of No. 4. Battle tested from a challenging schedule, the Irish earned a spot in the 1978 NCAA Tournament and played their way to the first Final Four appearance in school history.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular Season ||||||
| Nov 26, 1977* | No. 4 | Ole Miss | W 111–62 | 1–0 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Nov 30, 1977* | No. 3 | Baylor | W 98–57 | 2–0 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Dec 3, 1977* | No. 3 | Valparaiso | W 89–75 | 3–0 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Dec 5, 1977* | No. 3 | Lafayette | W 76–42 | 4–0 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Dec 7, 1977* | No. 3 | at Northwestern | W 88–48 | 5–0 | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, Illinois |
| Dec 10, 1977* | No. 3 | at No. 5 UCLA Rivalry | W 69–66 | 6–0 | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, California |
| Dec 14, 1977* | No. 2 | at Indiana | L 66–67 | 6–1 | Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana |
| Dec 23, 1977* | No. 5 | Saint Joseph's (IN) | W 108–72 | 7–1 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Dec 31, 1977* | No. 4 | vs. No. 1 Kentucky | L 68–73 | 7–2 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Jan 10, 1978* | No. 5 | at San Francisco | L 70–79 | 7–3 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena Oakland, California |
| Jan 14, 1978* | No. 5 | at St. Bonaventure | W 79–78 | 8–3 | Rochester Community War Memorial Rochester, New York |
| Jan 17, 1978* | No. 7 | Manhattan | W 81–64 | 9–3 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Jan 19, 1978* | No. 7 | Villanova | W 70–69 | 10–3 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Jan 22, 1978* | No. 7 | No. 3 UCLA Rivalry | W 75–73 | 11–3 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Jan 23, 1978* | No. 7 | Dartmouth | W 78–64 | 12–3 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Jan 25, 1978* | No. 5 | West Virginia | W 103–82 | 13–3 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Jan 29, 1978* | No. 5 | Maryland | W 69–54 | 14–3 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Feb 1, 1978* | No. 4 | at La Salle | W 95–90 | 15–3 | The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Feb 4, 1978* | No. 4 | Davidson | W 100–76 | 16–3 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Feb 12, 1978* | No. 4 | No. 11 DePaul | L 68–69 $^{OT}$ | 16–4 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Feb 16, 1978* | No. 7 | at Fordham | W 95–76 | 17–4 | Madison Square Garden New York, New York |
| Feb 18, 1978* | No. 7 | at South Carolina | L 60–65 | 17–5 | Carolina Coliseum Columbia, South Carolina |
| Feb 21, 1978* | No. 9 | North Carolina State | W 70–59 | 18–5 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Feb 26, 1978* | No. 9 | No. 1 Marquette | W 65–59 | 19–5 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Mar 4, 1978* | No. 7 | at Dayton | L 59–66 | 19–6 | University of Dayton Arena Dayton, Ohio |
| Mar 6, 1978* | No. 10 | Loyola-Chicago | W 83–68 | 20–6 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 12, 1978* | No. 6 | vs. Houston First round | W 100–77 | 21–6 | Mabee Center Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Mar 17, 1978* | No. 6 | vs. No. 14 Utah Midwest Regional Final – Sweet Sixteen | W 69–56 | 22–6 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas |
| Mar 19, 1978* | No. 6 | vs. No. 3 DePaul Midwest Regional Final – Elite Eight | W 84–64 | 23–6 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas |
| Mar 25, 1978* | No. 6 | vs. No. 7 Duke National semifinal – Final Four | L 86–90 | 23–7 | Checkerdome St. Louis, Missouri |
| Mar 27, 1978* | No. 6 | vs. No. 5 Arkansas National consolation – Third-place game | L 69–71 | 23–8 | Checkerdome St. Louis, Missouri |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. ||||||