Never mind that over the last 5 seasons, Syracuse has played similarly difficult schedules to other notable blue-blood programs like Kentucky and Duke.
What's that? Poppycock you say? Kentucky and Duke always play soooo many tough games and Syracuse just plays Canisius and Cornell?
Don't believe me? Check out the stats from the last five seasons for yourself. (All strength of schedule stats courtesy of kenpom.com)
Syracuse: 25, 20, 44, 2, 29 (average of 24)
Kentucky: 26, 14, 50, 76, 59 (Average of 45)
Duke: 22, 27, 3, 13, 12 (average of 15)
If you go back and look at the schedules, you will see that Syracuse is good for three road/neutral non-conference games against power conference teams each season. Just in the past five seasons they have played "neutral" games against Kansas in Kansas City and Florida in Tampa, plus true road games at Memphis, N.C. State, and Virginia. Not to mention numerous games in Madison Square Garden against the likes of Ohio State, North Carolina, and Michigan State. This year is no different, with neutral court match-ups against San Diego State and Temple and a road tilt at Arkansas.
Ok, thank you for allowing me to preach from my soapbox for a brief moment. I feel much better now. With that off my chest we can move on to the real purpose of this post, ranking Syracuse's top 5 games on the schedule this season. This is an especially difficult task this season with it being the last go round for all the storied Big East rivalries, but I'll take a stab at it anyways.
5) Syracuse vs. San Diego St. (Friday, November 9th, 8:00 p.m.)
It takes a pretty special game to knock key Big East rivalry games like UConn and Notre Dame out of the top 5. But this is a pretty rare treat. Syracuse is going to open the season with a prime-time Friday night game. Against a top 20 team. Across the country. On an aircraft carrier.
I have already bubble-wrapped my living room in anticipation of what should be an exciting opening night, as after an off-season of waiting I figure to be far too amped up for the good of any breakable objects in my house.
4) Villanova @ Syracuse (Saturday, January 12, 12:00 p.m.)
This one is a little bit of a selfish pick. Marquette and Cincinnati are probably significantly better teams this season. Connecticut and Notre Dame are certainly more historical rivals in the big picture.
What all those other games lack, however, is the personal ties that this game holds for me.
This game is an annual reminder of my mother's sports bigamy. Frankly, I'm surprised she hasn't found a way to sew together one of those half Nova / half Cuse t-shirts yet. You know, the kind a mother wears when she has two sons playing against each other. She may not have the t-shirt, but she certainly has the cheering for every play for both teams down pat.
This game is also an annual conversation starter for the roommates of 84 Milburn of a great road trip to the highest attended on-campus college basketball game in history. And the many related inside jokes that are not suited for the airwaves of this blog.
And most importantly, this game is an annual opportunity to talk trash to my sister, Pat and the oh so many Villanova alumni that I interact with on a semi-regular basis.
3) Syracuse @ Pitt (Saturday, February 2nd, 12:00 p.m.)
Pittsburgh is one of the few Big East programs that has traditionally owned Syracuse over the last decade or so. Prior to Syracuse's victory over Pitt last season in the Dome, their last regular season victory over the Panthers was all the way back in 2004. Do not adjust your computer screens, that stat is correct.
To put that in perspective, the last time Syracuse had beaten Pitt in the regular season prior to last year...
... Syracuse was defending national champions.
... George Bush was still in his first term as president.
... Lebron James was a rookie.
... Facebook was 3 1/2 weeks old.
... Phil Mickelson was still two months away from winning his first major.
... Steve DeNero was still shorter than me (or at least close to it).
Yes, this same Steve...
And the craziest one of all...
... Lindsey and I had only been dating for 3 months.
In other words, it was a really long time ago. So yea, beating Pitt on their own court in what may be the last time these two teams meet for quite some time would certainly be a sweet little taste of revenge.
2) Louisville @ Syracuse (Saturday, January 19th, 4:00 p.m.)
For anybody who has lived under a rock for the last couple of weeks, Jim Boeheim and Rick Pitino aren't exactly fans of each other. I'm sure those quotes from Big East Media day won't be the last time these two spout off about each other.
Add to the fact that this year's game figures to be a match-up of top 10 teams and the Dome figures to be packed for this game (I'm guessing 33,000+), and it should be an electric atmosphere.
Personally, I can't decide what I'm more excited for. Rick Pitino being lustily booed by 30,000+ fans or Peyton Siva being benched after this 7th ill-advised turnover in the first half.
1) Syracuse @ Georgetown (Saturday, March 9th, 12:00 p.m.)
This is just about the easiest pick ever.
Syracuse and Georgetown are like Peanut Butter and Jelly, Mario Kart and Super Nintendo, Taylor Swift and bad relationships, Sriracha and any meal Steve Schirmer has ever made. Some things are just meant to go together.
Any list of Syracuse's biggest rivalries that doesn't start with Georgetown just isn't legitimate. Other rivalries have ebbed and flowed throughout the years. Connecticut has been a strong rivalry since Jim Calhoun turned the program around. Villanova and Louisville have had their moments, especially in recent years. But Georgetown has been the one constant throughout the years dating all the way back to the start of the Big East in 1979. Just check out this link. Georgetown dwarfs everybody else in terms of Syracuse attendance records. This series clearly means the most to the fans.
We may not be able to "close" the Verizon Center, like John Thompson once claimed Georgetown did to Manley Field House. But we can close the door on the Big East with a victory over our biggest rivals, and oh how sweet that would be.
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