The ACC rolled out its conference schedule Tuesday night, giving Syracuse basketball its first look at the full 2024-25 slate.
Now, time to start down the countdown until tip off.
The Orange return for their second season under head coach Adrian Autry in two months, after finishing sixth in the ACC last year. With the whole schedule available, it’s time to take a look at what challenges — and what advantages — Syracuse men’s basketball will see this year.
Recapping the non-conference slate
Syracuse stacked a number of non-conference teams with March Madness potential. The Orange face Patriot League regular season champions Colgate right at the start of the season, and take on Texas, Maryland and either St. Joseph’s or Texas Tech on a neutral court.
Then there’s the ACC/SEC Challenge: in Knoxville for a bout with the SEC regular season champs, Tennessee, on Dec. 3.
Syracuse sprinkled in a few additional Quad 3 and 4 opportunities, including Bucknell and Albany at home, but it won’t be an easy start to the season.
Home-and-home series
Alright, onto ACC play.
Syracuse basketball has three home-and-home series, two for the annual rivalry series plus one additional. The extra home-and-home for the Orange is against Notre Dame, with the trip to the Fighting Irish scheduled for Dec. 7. Syracuse’s rivalry series are against Pitt and Boston College.
Pitt is expected to be the hardest matchup of those three home-and-homes, after the Panthers finished fourth in the ACC last year (12-8). Notre Dame and Boston College both finished toward the bottom of the pack, but it could still be tricky.
The return games for both Notre Dame and Boston College are sandwiched between road trips or ranked matchups for Syracuse. For example, the Orange host Duke just before hosting the Eagles.
It’s conference play — anything could happen between the start of the season and the end of February.
Syracuse’s draw
The Orange’s biggest advantage for their ACC schedule are Saturdays — there are five home games scheduled on a Saturday. This includes a marquee late-season matchup against UNC, broadcasted on ESPN, and the regular season finale against Virginia.
Another potential positive: Syracuse basketball will face most of the conference’s top teams at home. There’s no road trip to any North Carolina schools, all three go to Syracuse. Having some of the top programs in the conference play in the Dome could create an impressive atmosphere.
Now with every advantage, there are some challenges.
Syracuse will travel to all three new ACC members, California, Stanford and SMU this year. The California and Stanford games are grouped together, making it the largest conference road trip in program history.
If there’s an expected “rough patch” to Syracuse’s schedule, it would likely be that West Coast road trip and the games surrounding it. The Orange will host Pittsburgh before catching a flight to the Golden State, then returning to host Duke.
In fact, six of the ACC road games are all considered long distance trips. California and Stanford are the longest, but Syracuse will also travel to SMU, Florida State and Notre Dame.
Eight of the Orange’s games will appear on the ESPN networks, and eight will be available on ACC Network.
Looking ahead
Syracuse’s two exhibition games are set for Oct. 26 and 30, both at the Dome against Clarion and Slippery Rock, respectively. The official season opener is Nov. 4 against Syracuse’s next door neighbor, Le Moyne College inside the Dome.