As a player, Gerry McNamara put together some epic performances for Syracuse basketball at Madison Square Garden in New York City, leading the Orange to Big East Conference Tournament titles in both 2005 and 2006.
Now McNamara is SU's head coach, a position he landed last month after turning around Siena for the past two seasons. He said to CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein in a podcast interview on Tuesday that he wants his alma mater to consistently play at the world's most famous arena, which I loved hearing.
"I want to play there almost every year," McNamara said. "I can't help it."
Now, the Orange hasn't played at Madison Square Garden since December of 2021, when the 'Cuse lost to former Big East rival Villanova, 67-53. And, yes, Syracuse basketball has been in the Atlantic Coast Conference for more than a decade. SU's Big East days are long gone.
However, it's good for the Orange to play at MSG, and for numerous reasons. The team has a huge alumni and fan base in the New York area, and it's a key recruiting market for the program.
Syracuse basketball has numerous non-conference games that aren't yet publicly known.
While McNamara said that the squad's 13-game non-conference docket for the upcoming 2026-27 campaign is still being finalized, he hinted that SU might play at Madison Square Garden next season. Rothstein asked GMac if the Orange would compete at MSG in 2026-27, to which McNamara responded: "That’s fair. I’d say that’s fair. I’ve flat-out said I want to be in the Garden."
In McMamara's first stanza at the helm of his alma mater, he says that the team's non-conference schedule will be "terrific," and he wants the 'Cuse "to be tested."
Syracuse basketball will play Indiana in Indianapolis and Providence in Boston. The Orange is expected to have a game in the annual ACC-SEC Challenge, although the 'Cuse will not play again in the Las Vegas-based Players Era event, as I reported earlier this month.
The battle against Providence will take place at the TD Garden. McNamara says he never played at that "awesome venue," and he added that Syracuse basketball's non-conference duel versus the Friars "is going to be really neat."
McNamara's interview with Rothstein seemed to indicate that we might hear more soon about the Orange's non-conference contests in 2026-27.
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