Notre Dame hockey in the Big Ten is officially a thing.

It’s official. Notre Dame is officially an affiliate member of the Big Ten for hockey.

From the Big Ten:

The University of Notre Dame officially became a sport affiliate member for men’s hockey Saturday. The Fighting Irish join Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin to give the conference seven hockey programs for the 2017-18 season. Notre Dame will make its Big Ten debut Nov. 3-4 with a series at Ohio State.

With the addition of the Fighting Irish, schedules for each of the seven conference programs will move to a 24-game format that concludes with the 2018 Big Ten Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament, to be held the first three weekends of March with all games taking place on the campus of the higher-seeded teams.

Minnesota’s first game against the Fighting Irish as a member of the Big Ten is on Friday 1/26/18. It’ll also be the Gophers chance to avenge their NCAA Tournament defeat to ND.

Now that the Irish are officially in the Big Ten (sorta), what are your thoughts?