Syracuse Basketball: Daunting non-conference slate is nearing completion

It’s a common and somewhat tired tale that Syracuse basketball often plays a bunch of cupcakes during its non-conference calendars. Whether you agree with that take or not, the Orange definitely won’t have an easy non-conference schedule during the 2021-22 campaign.

The ‘Cuse is expected to have 11 non-conference games and 20 Atlantic Coast Conference contests in its 2021-22 regular season. And the bulk of its non-conference battles are known, to one degree or another, at this juncture.

Per a press release on cuse.com, Syracuse basketball will host Drexel in a non-conference collision on Sunday, Nov. 14, from the Carrier Dome.

Drexel, based in Philadelphia, is a member of the Colonial Athletic Association. In the recently concluded term, the Dragons captured their league’s post-season tournament crown to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 25 years, according to cuse.com.

In the 2021 Big Dance, Drexel would fall in the round of 64 to No. 1 seed Illinois. All-time, the Orange is 3-1 versus the Dragons, with the most recent encounter a ‘Cuse victory over Drexel in December of 2010 on the Hill.

The Syracuse basketball non-conference docket is firming up.

Here’s what else we know about the Orange’s non-conference slate in 2021-22. As we recently detailed, the ‘Cuse will play home games against Patriot League squads Lafayette and Lehigh on Tuesday, Nov. 9, and Saturday, Dec. 18, respectively.

Media reports have indicated that Syracuse basketball and former Big East Conference rival Villanova will square off in the 2021 Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The Orange should be traveling to our nation’s capital to face another former Big East foe, Georgetown. The ‘Cuse will participate in the annual ACC-Big Ten Challenge, with that bruiser likely to occur at the Dome.

Additionally, Syracuse basketball will have three contests 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.

Finally, while nothing official has come from the Orange, the team is likely to host Empire State crews Colgate and Cornell, according to various media reports. By my count, that would give the ‘Cuse 11 non-conference games, and it’s a schedule that is anything but cupcake city.