# 1985–86 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team

The 1985–86 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1985-86 college basketball season. The Irish were led by head coach Digger Phelps, in his 15th season, and played their home games at the Athletic & Convocation Center in Notre Dame, Indiana. The Irish completed a perfect season at home (15–0). Notre Dame earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they were upset by Arkansas–Little Rock in the opening round.
The team finished with a 23–6 record and a No. 10 ranking in the final AP poll.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular Season ||||||
| Nov 22, 1985* | No. 12 | Saint Joseph's (IN) | W 79–49 | 1–0 | Athletic & Convocation Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Nov 30, 1985* | No. 11 | Butler | W 87–56 | 1–0 | Athletic & Convocation Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Dec 3, 1985* | No. 10 | at No. 19 Indiana | L 67–82 | 1–1 | Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana |
| Dec 7, 1985* | No. 10 | Loyola–Chicago | W 71–58 | 2–1 | Athletic & Convocation Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Dec 9, 1985* | No. 17 | Oregon | W 72–63 | 3–1 | Athletic & Convocation Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Dec 21, 1985* | No. 19 | Valparaiso | W 98–54 | 4–1 | Athletic & Convocation Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Dec 30, 1985* | No. 17 | Creighton | W 80–54 | 5–1 | Athletic & Convocation Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Jan 4, 1986* | No. 17 | at La Salle | W 77–63 | 6–1 | The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 7, 1986* | No. 16 | at Providence | W 78–72 | 7–1 | Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island |
| Jan 11, 1986* | No. 16 | at DePaul | W 70–54 | 8–1 | Rosemont Horizon Rosemont, Illinois |
| Jan 13, 1986* | No. 13 | at BYU | L 76–80 | 8–2 | Marriott Center Provo, Utah |
| Jan 18, 1986* | No. 13 | UCLA | W 74–64 | 9–2 | Athletic & Convocation Center (11,345) Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Jan 20, 1986* | No. 16 | Hofstra | W 91–67 | 10–2 | Athletic & Convocation Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Jan 22, 1986* | No. 16 | American | W 67–56 | 11–2 | Athletic & Convocation Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Jan 26, 1986* | No. 16 | at No. 1 North Carolina | L 61–73 | 11–3 | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Jan 29, 1986* | No. 14 | Utah | W 94–64 | 12–3 | Athletic & Convocation Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Feb 1, 1986* | No. 14 | Marquette | W 72–70 | 13–3 | Athletic & Convocation Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Feb 3, 1986* | No. 14 | Maryland | W 69–62 | 14–3 | Athletic & Convocation Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Feb 5, 1986* | No. 14 | at Dayton | L 65–67 | 14–4 | University of Dayton Arena Dayton, Ohio |
| Feb 8, 1986* | No. 14 | at No. 8 Syracuse | W 85–81 | 15–4 | Carrier Dome Syracuse, New York |
| Feb 11, 1986* | No. 14 | Fordham | W 81–58 | 16–4 | Athletic & Convocation Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Feb 16, 1986* | No. 14 | at No. 2 Duke | L 74–75 | 16–5 | Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, North Carolina |
| Feb 19, 1986* | No. 14 | vs. Manhattan | W 102–47 | 17–5 | Madison Square Garden New York, New York |
| Feb 22, 1986* | No. 14 | at Miami (FL) | W 126–73 | 18–5 | Knight Center Miami, Florida |
| Feb 25, 1986* | No. 12 | DePaul | W 70–59 | 19–5 | Athletic & Convocation Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Mar 1, 1986* | No. 12 | at Marquette | W 74–66 | 20–5 | MECCA Arena Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Mar 3, 1986* | No. 12 | at New Orleans | W 75–67 | 21–5 | Lakefront Arena New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Mar 8, 1986* | No. 12 | Dayton | W 69–55 | 22–5 | Athletic & Convocation Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 14, 1986* | (3 MW) No. 10 | vs. (14 MW) Arkansas–Little Rock First round | L 83–90 | 23–6 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll/UPI Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||