Assuming a 2020-21 season does transpire, the Syracuse basketball non-conference calendar is slowly taking shape, with Green Bay the latest addition.
Whether or not Syracuse basketball will actually play later this year is a huge unknown, given what’s going on around the country and worldwide due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Two-time national champion and current Iona head coach Rick Pitino has floated the idea of teams only playing league contests in the 2020-21 term, which would prove unfortunate.
However, should the upcoming campaign go ahead as planned, the Orange is starting to see its non-conference schedule come to fruition. The most-recent foe is Green Bay out of the Horizon League.
The Phoenix finished at 17-16 overall and 11-7 in the Horizon League a stanza ago. Green Bay’s returning roster is led by sophomore guard Amari Davis, the Horizon League’s Freshman of the Year in 2019-20 who averaged 15.9 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, according to a cuse.com announcement.
About a month ago, Will Ryan became the new head coach of the Phoenix. Ryan is the son of former Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan, who took the Badgers to the Final Four in 2014 and 2015.
Syracuse plans to host Green Bay on Tuesday, Dec. 8, from the Carrier Dome. All-time, the Orange is 2-0 versus the Phoenix, winning 69-57 on Dec. 16, 2000, as well as 64-59 in the second round of the 1994 NCAA Tournament, per cuse.com.
With Green Bay in tow, here’s what we know about next season’s non-conference slate. Syracuse will suit up in December against LSU in the 2020 Gotham Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City, with a doubleheader that day to also feature Iona versus Stony Brook.
The Orange will welcome Georgetown to the Hill in their ongoing series. UMBC, the 2018 Big Dance darling, will travel to Central New York on Tuesday, Nov. 10.
Mercer is coming to the Dome for its inaugural meeting with the ‘Cuse, a duel that is part of the Gotham Classic. Media reports have indicated that SU’s inclusion in the Gotham Classic also includes a battle against Jacksonville State, and now Green Bay.
Syracuse is still waiting on its opponent in the annual ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Encounters with Empire State squads Colgate and Cornell are likely, too.
That probably gives the Orange another two non-conference clashes to put on the docket. So far, it’s a solid out-of-conference schedule for the ‘Cuse. Not too soft, but not unbelievably hard. It seems just about right.