Syracuse Basketball: With new additions, non-conference slate firming up

Syracuse basketball has announced two home games against members of the Patriot League, as the Orange continues to fill out its non-conference schedule for the upcoming 2021-22 campaign.

Per separate press releases on cuse.com, Syracuse basketball will host Lafayette on Tuesday, Nov. 9, and Lehigh on Saturday, Dec. 18, from the Carrier Dome.

In their series together, the Orange and Lafayette have battled one another eight times, and Syracuse basketball has prevailed in all eight encounters versus the Leopards.

During a shortened 2020-21 term due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, Lafayette compiled a 9-6 record and fell in its opening contest of the Patriot League post-season tournament.

Interestingly enough, according to cuse.com, the last instance in which these squads met occurred in 1995-96, a season in which the Orange reached the NCAA Tournament title game. Lafayette is located in Easton, Pa.

Syracuse basketball, meanwhile, is 4-0 all-time versus Lehigh, which is based in Bethlehem, Pa. Ironically, the most recent occasion when these teams squared off came in 2015-16, a campaign in which the ‘Cuse journeyed on a magical Big Dance run to the Final Four as a No. 10 seed.

A season ago, Lehigh had a mark of 4-11 and lost in its first game within the Patriot League Tournament.

The Orange also recently said that it would welcome Pace University to the Hill on Wednesday, Oct. 27, for an exhibition duel. Pace, a Division II school, has three campuses in and around New York City.

Syracuse basketball has several other non-conference meetings on the docket.

Here’s what else we know about the ‘Cuse non-conference calendar in 2021-22. Syracuse basketball is reportedly planning to suit up against former Big East Conference rival Villanova in the 2021 Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City, according to CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein.

The Orange is expected to travel to our nation’s capital to play former Big East foe Georgetown, which this past March captured its league’s post-season tourney to earn an invite to the Big Dance.

Syracuse basketball will likely host a game for the annual ACC-Big Ten Challenge, since the ‘Cuse went to Rutgers last season. The Orange will also compete in the 2021 Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis, an event whose field includes Arizona State, Auburn, Loyola Chicago, Michigan State, Connecticut, VCU and Baylor, the 2021 NCAA champion.