No matter what sport you’re a fan of, if you’re a fan of Notre Dame athletics you had an incredibly memorable decade.
The football team returned to national prominence, twice going unbeaten in the regular season and making an appearance in the BCS Championship Game in 2012 and in the College Football Playoff in 2018.
Mike Brey’s basketball team reached heights that haven’t been seen in South Bend in a very long time as the Fighting Irish peaked mid-decade, winning the ACC in 2015 before nearly pulling the upset of unbeaten Kentucky in the Midwest Regional Final and coming within a buzzer-beater of going to the Final Four. They’d return to the Elite Eight a year later before falling to North Carolina as well.
The men’s hockey team made seven appearances in the NCAA Tournament, something they had done just four times previously. Three times they made the Frozen Four including a national final appearance in 2018.
As much as there was to get excited about there was one team that stuck out more than any others, and by a pretty significant margin.