Syracuse Basketball: Familiar “friends” for Orange in 2021 Battle 4 Atlantis

If Syracuse basketball hopes to capture the 2021 Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis like it did six years ago, then the Orange will have to conquer a couple of heavyweight teams in a loaded field of the annual pre-season tournament.

Now in its 10th year, the Battle 4 Atlantis in 2021 will feature the ‘Cuse, along with Arizona State, Auburn, Loyola Chicago, Michigan State, Connecticut, VCU and Baylor.

The 12-game, three-day event will take place over the Thanksgiving holiday from the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, according to the Battle 4 Atlantis Web site. The men’s tournament will occur from Nov. 24-26 of this year.

There will also be the first-ever Battle 4 Atlantis women’s tournament, from Nov. 20-22. That field includes the Orange, South Carolina, Buffalo, Connecticut, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Florida and Minnesota.

The Syracuse basketball men’s squad captured this tournament in 2015, defeating top-25 foes UConn and Texas A&M on the way to the title. The Orange would make a run to the Final Four in the 2015-16 term.

Syracuse basketball will suit up as part of a stellar 2021 Battle 4 Atlantis.

A bunch of intriguing storylines headlines the 2021 version of the Battle 4 Atlantis. First and foremost, numerous participants received invites to the current NCAA Tournament.

Baylor is a No. 1 seed and playing in the Sweet 16. The Bears also knocked off the ‘Cuse in the round of 64 within the 2019 NCAA Tournament.

Loyola Chicago, which reached the Final Four in 2018, is also in the regional semi-finals of the current March Madness.

Michigan State, former Big East Conference rival Connecticut and VCU all received invites to the 2021 NCAA Tournament, although VCU unfortunately had to forfeit its round of 64 contest due to Covid-19 protocols.

Arizona State and Auburn didn’t qualify for this season’s Big Dance. However, Syracuse basketball faced off with Arizona State, and defeated the Sun Devils, in the 2018 First Four.

Auburn, meanwhile, advanced to the 2019 Final Four, where the Tigers fell in heart-breaking fashion to eventual national champion Virginia in the national semi-finals.

The Orange barely snuck by Auburn, 79-78, in the 2003 Sweet 16. I don’t think that I need to remind you what Syracuse basketball would then end up doing in that March Madness.