# 1969–70 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team

The 1969–70 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1969–70 season. The team was led by 6th-year head coach John Dee and played their home games at the Joyce Center. Notre Dame made the NCAA tournament for the third straight season, reaching the Sweet Sixteen before finishing fourth place in the Mideast region. The Irish closed the season with an overall record of 21–8 and was ranked in the top ten of both major polls.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular Season ||||||
| Dec 1, 1969* | No. 13 | at Minnesota | W 84–75 | 1–0 | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Dec 3, 1969* | No. 13 | Michigan | W 87–86 | 2–0 | Joyce Center South Bend, Indiana |
| Dec 6, 1969* | No. 13 | at Valparaiso | W 98–82 | 3–0 | Hilltop Gym Valparaiso, Indiana |
| Dec 10, 1969* | No. 10 | Northern Illinois | W 111–92 | 4–0 | Joyce Center South Bend, Indiana |
| Dec 13, 1969* | No. 10 | Saint Louis | W 65–53 | 5–0 | Joyce Center South Bend, Indiana |
| Dec 15, 1969* | No. 6 | Kansas | L 63–75 | 5–1 | Joyce Center South Bend, Indiana |
| Dec 20, 1969* | No. 6 | at Indiana | W 89–88 | 6–1 | New Fieldhouse Bloomington, Indiana |
| Dec 27, 1969* | No. 11 | vs. No. 1 Kentucky | L 100–102 | 6–2 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Dec 29, 1969* | No. 13 | vs. West Virginia | W 84–80 | 7–2 | Municipal Auditorium New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Dec 30, 1969* | No. 13 | vs. No. 3 South Carolina | L 83–84 | 7–3 | Municipal Auditorium New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Jan 3, 1970* | No. 13 | at No. 2 UCLA | L 77–108 | 7–4 | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, California |
| Jan 7, 1970* | | Fordham | W 91–76 | 8–4 | Joyce Center South Bend, Indiana |
| Jan 10, 1970* | | Villanova | W 94–92 | 9–4 | Joyce Center South Bend, Indiana |
| Jan 14, 1970* | | DePaul | W 96–73 | 10–4 | Joyce Center South Bend, Indiana |
| Jan 17, 1970* | | vs. Duquesne | W 82–66 | 11–4 | Chicago Stadium Chicago, Illinois |
| Jan 20, 1970* | No. 20 | at Michigan State | L 82–85 | 11–5 | Jenison Field House East Lansing, Michigan |
| Jan 31, 1970* | | vs. No. 10 Illinois | W 86–83 | 12–5 | Chicago Stadium Chicago, Illinois |
| Feb 4, 1970* | | Saint Peter's | W 135–88 | 13–5 | Joyce Center South Bend, Indiana |
| Feb 7, 1970* | | No. 9 Marquette | W 96–95 | 14–5 | Joyce Center South Bend, Indiana |
| Feb 10, 1970* | No. 16 | St. John's | W 90–76 | 14–5 | Joyce Center South Bend, Indiana |
| Feb 14, 1970* | No. 16 | at Detroit Mercy | W 95–93 | 16–5 | Calihan Hall Detroit, Michigan |
| Feb 16, 1970* | No. 14 | Tulane | W 115–80 | 17–5 | Joyce Center South Bend, Indiana |
| Feb 19, 1970* | No. 14 | at NYU | W 77–65 | 18–5 | Madison Square Garden New York, New York |
| Feb 21, 1970* | No. 14 | West Virginia | W 114–78 | 19–5 | Joyce Center South Bend, Indiana |
| Feb 23, 1970* | No. 14 | at Butler | W 121–114 | 20–5 | Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Feb 28, 1970* | No. 13 | at Dayton | L 79–95 | 20–6 | UD Arena Dayton, Ohio |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 7, 1970* | No. 15 | vs. No. 17 Ohio First round | W 112–82 | 21–6 | UD Arena Dayton, Ohio |
| Mar 12, 1970* | No. 9 | vs. No. 1 Kentucky Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen | L 99–109 | 21–7 | St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| Mar 14, 1970* | No. 9 | vs. No. 7 Iowa Regional 3rd Place game | L 106–121 | 21–8 | St. John Arena (13,865) Columbus, Ohio |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ME=Mideast. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked т = Tied with team above or below :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Final |
| AP | 13 | 10 | 6 | 11 | 13 | — | — | 20 | — | — | 16 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 9 |
| Coaches | — | 16 | 7 | 13 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | 15-т | 16-т | 15 | 18 | 8 |