Syracuse Basketball: Ranking the top-10 games for the Orange in 2021-22
By Neil Adler
Villanova
Syracuse basketball. Villanova. Big East flavor. Madison Square Garden. New York City.
Can I just end it there?
On Tuesday, Dec. 7, the Orange and the Wildcats will rekindle their long-time Big East rivalry as part of the 2021 Jimmy V Classic at the famed MSG in the Big Apple. It doesn’t get much better than this.
I am the first to acknowledge that, historically speaking, the biggest rival for the ‘Cuse is Georgetown, not Villanova. However, in 2021-22, the Wildcats are expected to be at the top of the Big East standings, and this contest’s setting in Madison Square Garden is tantalizing.
For years, Syracuse basketball, Villanova, the Hoyas and the rest of the Big East suited up for the league’s post-season tournament at MSG.
The Orange, obviously, is now in the ACC, but what a battle this will prove between the ‘Cuse and the Wildcats.
Villanova is led by head coach Jay Wright, a Hall of Famer who won recent national championships in 2016 and 2018. During the 2016 Big Dance, of course, Syracuse basketball also made a run to the Final Four, before losing to North Carolina.
National prognosticators are viewing the Wildcats as a pre-season top-five squad ahead of 2021-22, in part because players such as point guard Collin Gillespie elected to return for another stanza.
A term ago, Villanova claimed yet another Big East regular-season crown, continuing its run of conference dominance in recent years. As a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Wildcats fell in the Sweet 16 to eventual champ and No. 1 seed Baylor, 62-51.
Villanova ended 2020-21 at 18-7, with an 11-4 record in Big East games.
All-time, Syracuse basketball is 39-33 against the Wildcats. In their most recent meeting, the Orange hung tough on the road, but Villanova prevailed, 82-77, in December of 2014.
There is another fun facet to this encounter. The ‘Cuse roster for 2021-22 includes senior forward Cole Swider, who transferred from the Wildcats to Syracuse basketball in the off-season.
So Swider and his new Orange colleagues may have even more incentive to knock off his former team. Like the Baylor game that we discussed not too long ago, the Villanova contest gives the Orange another chance to beat a highly ranked foe on a neutral court.