3 takeaways from Syracuse basketball's non-conference schedule
With games against Georgetown (away) and Cornell (home) still to be officially announced as this story was published, the 11 Syracuse basketball out-of-conference games are now set.
Still, the bracket has yet to be released for the Maui Invitational (Nov. 20-22), and the date and SEC opponent have to be announced for the inaugural ACC-SEC Challenge series.
The 20 game ACC schedule dates are expected to be known just before or after Labor Day, don't be surprised to see a league road contest set for December 2 amidst the non-conference games.
Here are three takeaways from the non-ACC portion of the 2023-24 schedule:
A "Home Sweet Dome" beginning for Adrian Autry.
As Harvard was to Jim Boeheim, New Hampshire will be to Adrian Autry. Boeheim's initial game (and victory) as Syracuse head coach came against Harvard in Springfield, Mass. on November 26, 1976. Autry's debut will be versus UNH in the Dome on Nov. 6. In fact, of the seven coaches in program history preceding Autry (not including interim coach Mike Hopkins in 2015-16), each won his initial game except Roy Danforth in 1968.
The 2023 Maui Invitational is ridiculously hard for any team to win three games in three days.
After going 9-0 in Maui tournament victories in 1990, 1998, and 2013, unless SU draws host Chaminade in the opening round or later in the tournament, the Orange will likely be underdogs in any other potential matchup. The rest of the field were all NCAA Tournament teams last season: Gonzaga, Kansas, Marquette, Purdue, Tennessee, and UCLA.
Welcome to "Great Faces. Great Places."
Boeheim coached 'Cuse games in 34 states during his 47 years on the job, while in his first season Autry will guide the Orange in a state the program has never played in before. South Dakota's aforementioned state slogan refers to Mount Rushmore and the region's scenic surroundings. While we like spreading the program's wings to meet Oregon at the neutral Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls on December 17, in a season with a Hawaii trip, we would have preferred a December game in the New York City metro area against a "name" opponent.
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