After an incredible football season in which Notre Dame experienced a return to glory, the Notre Dame men's basketball team is having their own return to glory this year…

Well okay, maybe they never had as much glory as the football team. But this year, the men's hoops team is proving to be quite possibly the best men's team Notre Dame has ever had.

After losing several key seniors from last year's NCAA Tournament squad, there were doubts about whether or not the team would recover and repeat last year's exciting season. However, it didn't take long for the team to drown all those doubts. It was a December to remember for the men's team, with a record of 6-0, including three victories over top 10 teams in the course of a week. The great performance lead Notre Dame to a ranking as high as 6th in the nation, the highest ranking the Irish have achieved in 20 years.

With the new and improved team, thanks in part to third-year coach Mike Brey, basketball games have become an wild and crazy experience. More and more students are attending games, and with the presence of the Leprechaun Legion, the Joyce Center is no longer a fun place to play for Notre Dame opponents.

The new team drives us to make the journey out to the Joyce Center during the drury winter of South Bend. The electricity in the JACC is becoming closer and closer to that felt at a football game. The feeling of pride is apparent, in every Notre Dame basketball fan who has cheered the team on for years, in every Notre Dame student, and in the players themselves, who have proven to everyone that Notre Dame basketball needs to be recognized as one of the top programs in the nation.

Yet, after all this, the season is just beginning. This month, the Irish start conference play, and they will need our support more than ever. At least two more games are against top 10 opponents, and the rest of the conference is no pushover. Notre Dame faces 15 games before most likely heading to the NCAA Tournament in March. Hoping for a spot in the Sweet 16 and even thinking about the Tournament may be looking too far ahead, but for the next two months, we as students can provide the extra energy the team needs in order to spark the team.

After being away for three weeks during break, I couldn't wait to get back to South Bend to cheer on the basketball team along with the Leprechaun Legion, and I'm sure many of you felt the same way. If the team can keep their momentum, they may storm into the NCAA Tournament as one of the most feared opponents in the nation.

Our football team responded to the excitement on campus, now it is our basketball team's turn to do the same.

Go Irish.

• Return to glory part 2