The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are 8-0 and off to their best start since 2010 –when they also won their first eight games before losing to a Kentucky team that found themselves in the Final Four that year. Mike Brey’s club has looked sharp to start the season with an average margin of victory of 26.5 points, good for second in the nation. Notre Dame has also already picked up multiple resume building wins over power-five conference opponents Colorado, Northwestern, and Iowa. Both the Buffalos and the Wildcats have looked like possible tournament teams early this season, while Iowa has been a disappointment so far with losses to Seton Hall and Memphis highlighting their struggles.

Notre Dame features one of the nation’s top offenses, averaging 89.1 points a game, which is good for seventh in the nation. Leading the Irish is 6’5 junior, Bonzie Colson, who is averaging 17.1 ppg and 10.8 rpg and is one of only four players in the ACC to average a double-double. V.J Beachem (17.1), Steve Vasturia (15.9), and Matt Ferrell (12.5) all join Colson in double-digit scoring. All four of those players are upperclassmen and give Mike Brey the kind of leadership to close out tight games. A large part of Notre Dame’s late game success is their ability to knock down free throws. As a team, the Irish lead the nation in free throw percentage, converting on 85.8% of their shots from the charity stripe.

Another large part of Notre Dame’s success has been there efficiency from the field. The Irish are shooting 48.4% from the field and 42.9% from behind the arc. They also share the ball extremely well, averaging 18.9 apg as a team with Matt Farrell pacing the team with 5.4. The Irish also lead the nation in turnovers committed, averaging only 8.5 a game. Notre Dame has forced their opponents to turn the ball over on average 14 times a game, and is plus 5.5 in turnover margin so far this season.

While the Irish have one of the nation’s elite offenses, their defense can not be overlooked. As a team, they are holding their opponents to 36.6% shooting from the field, good for 13th in the nation and 4th in the ACC. On top of that, the Irish rank in the top-75 in both steals and blocks per game. The thing that makes Notre Dame truly difficult to crack for opposing offenses is the fact that the Irish rarely foul their opponents. The Irish only commit 15.5 fouls a game and send their opponents to the free throw line only 13.5 times per game. This makes it difficult for other teams to get easy points against the Irish if they are struggling from the field.

Mike Brey’s club has two huge test over the next couple of weeks with games against #1 Villanova (12/10) and #18 Purdue (12/17). A win in either game would help solidify Notre Dame’s out of conference schedule and will give the Irish a signature out of conference win before heading into ACC play. In addition to that, the Irish will play at least six ranked teams in ACC play, giving Notre Dame one of the toughest schedules in the nation. The gauntlet that is the ACC will help prepare the Irish for March, where they will look to repeat and improve on last year’s Elite Eight appearance. With a favorable draw from the committee, the Irish have the potential to make a run to their first Final Four since 1978.