Syracuse basketball will see its number of non-conference opponents increase by two, to 13, during the upcoming season, and we're starting to get a sense of which teams the Orange will face.
In recent days, college basketball analyst Rocco Miller, citing sources, reported on X that the 'Cuse will host Mercyhurst at the JMA Wireless Dome during the 2025-26 term. The date, tip-off time and broadcast information haven't yet been disclosed.
Mercyhurst, in 2024-25, was in its first season as a Division I school, as a member of the Northeast Conference. Located in Erie, Pa., Mercyhurst went 15-16 overall in 2024-25 and 9-7 in NEC competition.
This will be the first-ever, regular-season matchup between the Orange and the Lakers.
We're still waiting on many of Syracuse basketball's non-conference foes.
The Atlantic Coast Conference, for 2025-26, moved to 13 non-conference games to improve the chances of more league members getting to the NCAA Tournament. As a result, the Orange and its ACC peers will only play 18 conference contests, down from 20 a term ago.
In recent weeks, I've seen some schools disclose their full non-conference dockets, but SU Athletics hasn't done that yet for Syracuse basketball. Besides Mercyhurst, the Orange will host Southeastern Conference member Tennessee at the Dome on December 2 as part of the annual ACC/SEC Challenge.
This will mark the third straight year that the 'Cuse and the Volunteers meet on the court, and Syracuse football is also battling Tennessee in the 2025 season opener in late August in Atlanta.
Syracuse basketball will also play, I believe, three games at the name, image and likeness-driven Players Era Festival, which currently features 18 squads and will take place in late November in Las Vegas.
Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports first reported not too long ago that the 'Cuse and former Big East Conference rival Georgetown won't play each other in 2025-26 after having squared off every season over the past 10 years.
With so many non-conference opponents still not publicly known, I'd love to see the Orange play at least one former Big East team, since Georgetown won't be on the calendar. I'm thinking either Rick Pitino-led St. John's, Villanova or UConn would be fabulous.
Additionally, Syracuse basketball often suits up from season to season against two Central New York neighbors, Colgate and Cornell. Will the Raiders and/or the Big Red be on the Orange's non-conference schedule in 2025-26?
We'll soon find out.