Syracuse basketball looks to snap two-game slide vs. Colgate in November

Syracuse basketball continues to add to its non-conference docket in the 2023-24 season, as SU Athletics has announced that the Orange will host nearby Central New York neighbor Colgate this coming November.

Per a press release on cuse.com, Syracuse basketball will welcome the Raiders to the JMA Wireless Dome on Tuesday, Nov. 14. Colgate, out of the Patriot League, is located in Hamilton, N.Y., which is about 40 miles from the SU campus.

In Orange history, the ‘Cuse has faced the Raiders more times than any other opponent. In their all-time series together that dates back to 1902, Syracuse basketball holds a commanding lead, 127-47, according to SU Athletics.

However, Colgate has defeated the Orange by double-digits in each of the past two seasons, including an 80-68 victory over the ‘Cuse on the Hill during the 2022-23 stanza. In both of those road wins for the Raiders, Colgate absolutely shredded the zone from the perimeter.

The Raiders are led by excellent head coach Matt Langel, who is the winningest coach in the history of the Colgate program. In 2022-23, the Raiders went 26-9 overall, capturing the Patriot League regular-season and post-season titles. As a No. 15 seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, Colgate fell in the round of 64 to No. 2 seed Texas, 81-61.

Syracuse basketball has added familiar foe Colgate to its 2023-24 non-conference schedule.

While there’s no denying that the Raiders are a strong team that has done extremely well in recent years, the Orange falling at home two seasons in a row to Colgate, and by wide margins each time, has frustrated ‘Cuse fans.

First-year head coach Adrian Autry, who has done a tremendous recruiting job this-offseason, will look to reverse course versus the Raiders with his 13-player roster for 2023-24, a line-up that was recently bolstered by the return of point guard Judah Mintz for his sophomore term.

At this juncture, seven of the Orange’s 11 non-conference contests in 2023-24 have been officially announced. Here’s what the non-conference calendar looks like:

•Syracuse basketball vs. New Hampshire at the Dome on Monday, Nov. 6

•Syracuse basketball vs. Colgate at the Dome on Tuesday, Nov. 14

•Syracuse basketball vs. three TBD opponents at the 2023 Maui Jim Maui Invitational in Maui, Hawaii, from Monday, Nov. 20, until Wednesday, Nov. 22 (the eight-team field consists of the Orange, Gonzaga, Kansas, Marquette, Purdue, Tennessee, UCLA and Chaminade)

•Syracuse basketball vs. Oregon in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Sunday, Dec. 17

•Syracuse basketball vs. Niagara at the Dome on Thursday, Dec. 21

That leaves four games left for the ‘Cuse non-conference schedule in 2023-24. I could envision Syracuse basketball playing Cornell and Georgetown, and also having an encounter in the inaugural ACC-SEC Challenge this coming season. We’ll continue to keep tabs on new non-conference games that are announced by SU Athletics.

The Orange has also announced two exhibitions at the Dome. One is against Daemen University on Friday, Oct. 27, and the second is versus the College of St. Rose on Wednesday, Nov. 1.