Syracuse basketball will participate in the 2021 Battle 4 Atlantis, per Jon Rothstein, and the event includes a lot of faces familiar to the Orange.
It’s unclear whether Syracuse basketball will even suit up in the 2020-21 campaign, due to novel coronavirus pandemic that has halted the sports world.
Yet Orange fanatics, hopefully, will have something to look forward to a bit further down the road.
CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein revealed on Twitter, citing sources, that the ‘Cuse is among eight squads that will compete in the 2021 Battle 4 Atlantis, an annual pre-season tournament that Syracuse won in 2015.
Here’s the full tweet from Rothstein
Sources: Michigan State, UConn, Syracuse, Arizona State, Auburn, VCU, and Loyola-Chicago are expected to headline the 2021 Battle 4 Atlantis.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 23, 2020
8th team is currently TBD.
One can’t help but get cautiously excited about this development. Not only has the Orange had success in the Battle 4 Atlantis, but look at that group of crews. It’s an incredible bunch.
Michigan State, year after year, is in the mix for a Big Ten Conference championship and is often deemed a significant contender to reach the Final Four.
During the 2019 March Madness, the Spartans upset No. 1 seed and Zion Williamson-led Duke to advance to the national semi-finals, where Michigan State fell to eventual runner-up Texas Tech.
Oh, and in the season before that, you may recall that the ‘Cuse, as a No. 11 seed, knocked off the third-seeded Spartans in the round of 32, as Syracuse got to the Sweet 16, where it lost in a heart-breaker to the Blue Devils.
UConn needs no introduction. The Huskies are one of the Orange’s most-heated former Big East Conference rivals. Connecticut, which has captured NCAA titles in 1999, 2004, 2011 and 2014, went toe to toe with the ‘Cuse during the 2009 Big East tourney, when the programs played an epic six-overtime contest.
Syracuse triumphed in that legendary encounter, although the Huskies, which are rejoining the Big East from the American Athletic Conference, have defeated the Orange on a couple of occasions in non-conference duels following the move by the ‘Cuse to the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2013-14.
In the same 2018 Big Dance where Syracuse bested MSU, the Orange squeaked by Arizona State, a fellow No. 11 seed, in the First Four.
Sun Devils head coach Bobby Hurley, who secured a pair of national championships as a point guard for Duke, is doing a strong recruiting job for Arizona State of late. The Sun Devils are expected to vie for a Pac-12 Conference trophy in 2020-21.
Additionally, Auburn, VCU and Loyola-Chicago have all made their mark on March Madness in recent stanzas. If not for an unfortunate foul called late in their national semi-final in 2019, the Tigers likely would have knocked off No. 1 seed Virginia and gotten to the title tilt.
The ‘Cuse escaped Auburn, 79-78, in the 2003 Sweet 16. We all know what happened in the remainder of that Big Dance for Syracuse. VCU and Loyola-Chicago, meanwhile, journeyed on Cinderella adventures to the Final Four in 2011 and 2018, respectively.
As for the Orange in the Battle 4 Atlantis, the ‘Cuse claimed the event’s grand prize in late November of 2015, when Syracuse conquered No. 25 Texas A&M, 74-67. The Orange also beat No. 18 Connecticut in the tournament’s semi-finals.
Although the ‘Cuse would struggle during the regular season in 2015-16, Syracuse ended up on the right side of the 2016 NCAA Tournament bubble. Seeded a No. 10, the Orange went on to the Final Four, losing to No. 1 seed North Carolina in the national semi-finals.
Whom the ‘Cuse might play in the 2021 Battle 4 Atlantis isn’t known at this time, but one thing is abundantly clear – the potential match-ups for Syracuse are undeniably sweet.