Syracuse basketball possibly at Mohegan Sun for Gotham Classic

CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein is reporting that Syracuse basketball could face LSU within a bubble at the Mohegan Sun Arena for the Gotham Classic.

On Friday, we penned a column in which Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim said that it would prove unlikely for the Orange to compete in the Gotham Classic as it currently stands.

That event’s marquee match-up for the ‘Cuse is LSU out of the Southeastern Conference, along with other games versus Green Bay, Jacksonville State and Mercer.

Not too long after Boeheim’s comments came across the Internet, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein sent out a tweet where he said that the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., is eyeing three separate windows for teams to compete at its facility in a non-conference bubble amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

One of those windows, according to Rothstein, is from Dec. 15-20 and includes the Gotham Classic, as well as the Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational.

Among the squads planning to suit up in the Hall of Fame Invitational, by the way, are a bevy of quality crews, such as Florida, Penn State, Purdue, West Virginia, Stanford and Georgia Tech, Rothstein notes.

Syracuse basketball could end up playing LSU and others in the Gotham Classic within a bubble in Connecticut from Dec. 15-20.

A few days ago, NCAA leaders decided to push back the commencement of the 2020-21 basketball campaign from Nov. 10 to Nov. 25, the day before Thanksgiving, because of the pandemic.

As a result, Boeheim told Syracuse.com that, in essence, the Orange’s 2020-21 schedule is totally blank at this juncture, and team officials will have to get going on filling up a new docket that can entail up to 27 contests.

Rothstein, in a separate piece, reported that the Atlantic Coast Conference anticipates having non-conference clashes in addition to league duels, “barring any massive medical setbacks or testing issues related to COVID-19.”

Last week, ACC coaches, including Boeheim, proposed that every Division I team receive a bid to the 2021 Big Dance, a proposal that NCAA officials shot down relatively quickly.

When word broke months ago that Syracuse basketball would collide with LSU in the Gotham Classic, I got pumped. The Tigers are a high-quality opponent, and hopefully, the Orange and LSU still have a chance to go toe to toe.