The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will be facing the Cincinnati Bearcats on Wednesday night as both teams continue their Big East conference schedules. Both teams are currently 1-0 against Big East opponents, as each team beat then-No. 22 Pittsburgh last week.
But while the Fighting Irish played well in beating Pitt on Dec. 27, they haven't played great of late in general. Before winning its past two games, Notre Dame had lost five of its past eight games. And while three of losses came against ranked opponents, none of those teams were ranked higher than No. 18 at the time. With highly-ranked teams like Louisville, Syracuse and Connecticut coming soon on the schedule, the Fighting Irish need to round into form against stronger opponents.
Play of late hasn't been an issue for Cincinnati, though, as the Bearcats are currently riding a six-game winning streak. Most of those wins came against pretty weak teams, but their past two wins have come against Oklahoma, currently 10-3 on the year, and Pittsburgh.
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