Syracuse Basketball: This season’s non-conference slate coming together

The non-conference docket for Syracuse basketball during the 2022-23 campaign is coming to fruition piece by piece.

The latest development is that the Orange will host Patriot League member Lehigh on Monday, Nov. 7, from the newly renamed JMA Wireless Dome, according to a press release from SU Athletics posted on cuse.com.

The Orange and the Mountain Hawks were supposed to battle in the 2021-22 stanza, but that non-conference encounter got canceled amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

All-time, Syracuse basketball and Lehigh have squared off four times, with the ‘Cuse winning each of the previous duels. Most recently, on Nov. 13, 2015, the Orange defeated the Mountain Hawks, 57-47, on the Hill.

In that 2015-16 term, Syracuse basketball would ultimately advance to the Final Four. Last season, per cuse.com, Lehigh finished up at 13-19 overall and 10-8 in Patriot League competition.

Let’s look at other non-conference games for Syracuse basketball on the books.

College basketball insider Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports recently tweeted out that Bryant will head to Central New York for a showdown in 2022-23 on Saturday, Nov. 26.

The Bulldogs went 22-10 a stanza ago, winning the Northeast Conference’s regular-season and post-season tournament crowns, and then earning a bid to this spring’s Big Dance.

Bryant and the ‘Cuse have met up once before, in November of 2020, when Syracuse basketball snuck by the Bulldogs, 85-84, before an empty Carrier Dome amid the pandemic in the first affair of that season.

The Orange will also suit up in the 2022 Empire Classic, along with Richmond, former Big East Conference rival St. John’s and Temple.

The ‘Cuse should also have a game in the annual ACC-Big Ten Challenge. In 2021-22, Syracuse basketball captured a thrilling 112-110, double-overtime triumph over Indiana at home in that event.

Georgetown is expected to travel to the Hill in 2022-23. The Hoyas, a squad that really struggled a term ago, beat the ‘Cuse by four points in Washington, D.C., this past December.

That was an ugly setback for Syracuse basketball, which suffered a campaign under .500 in 2021-22, the first losing season that head coach Jim Boeheim had endured in his 46 years leading the ‘Cuse.

I would imagine that the Orange could likely see nearby neighbors Colgate and Cornell on its non-conference calendar for the upcoming campaign as well. In fact, after I wrote this column but before it actually published, word came out via cuse.com that Syracuse basketball will host Colgate on Sunday, Nov. 15.

Syracuse basketball fans, any particular foes that you’d like to have the ‘Cuse face off against in the non-conference portion of the 2022-23 term?