Syracuse basketball will play 13 non-conference games in the upcoming 2025-26 season, and we know about nine of these contests so far, based on official announcements from SU Athletics and other media reports.
The latest non-conference contest to be revealed, via Syracuse Athletics, has the Orange hosting Coastal Athletic Association school Monmouth out of West Long Branch, N.J., on Tuesday, Nov. 18, at the JMA Wireless Dome.
In their short all-time series together, per cuse.com, Syracuse basketball is 3-0 against the Hawks, with all three encounters transpiring on the Hill. Most recently, the 'Cuse beat the Hawks, 86-71, in December of 2022.
During the 2024-25 campaign, Monmouth went 13-20 overall and 10-8 in Coastal Athletic Association competition. The Hawks' long-time head coach, since 2011, is Binghamton, N.Y., native King Rice, who played at fellow Atlantic Coast Conference member North Carolina.
Rice is the all-time winningest head coach in Monmouth program history.
Here's the Syracuse basketball non-conference calendar to date.
Saturday, Nov. 15, in Philadelphia
Syracuse basketball versus Drexel, tip-off time is TBD
Tuesday, Nov. 18, at the JMA Wireless Dome
Syracuse basketball versus Monmouth, tip-off time is TBD
Saturday, Nov. 22, in Las Vegas
Syracuse basketball versus Saint Joseph's, tip-off time is TBD
Monday, Nov. 24, in Las Vegas (Players Era Festival)
Syracuse basketball versus Houston at 6 pm
Tuesday, Nov. 25, in Las Vegas (Players Era Festival)
Syracuse basketball versus Kansas at 3:30 pm
Wednesday, Nov. 26, in Las Vegas (Players Era Festival)
Opponent and tip-off time are TBD
Tuesday, Dec. 2, at the JMA Wireless Dome (ACC/SEC Challenge)
Syracuse basketball versus Tennessee, tip-off time is TBD
The Orange will also host Binghamton and Mercyhurst at the Dome, according to reports. The dates and times for those non-conference affairs have not been disclosed yet.
That's nine non-conference games so far, with four more to come. The 'Cuse and its Atlantic Coast Conference peers will play 13 non-conference contests in 2025-26, while their number of league encounters will shrink from 20 to 18.
This is a challenging non-conference schedule for the Orange, which is looking to get back to the NCAA Tournament following a four-year absence. Houston, Tennessee and Kansas are expected to be highly ranked in preseason top-25 polls ahead of 2025-26, and Houston reached the national championship game this past spring.
Plus, the name, image and likeness-driven Players Era Festival has a stacked field, meaning Syracuse basketball will play another tough foe on November 26.