Well, you can start to mark your calendars Orange fans because the Syracuse men’s basketball conference schedule has officially been announced and there are lot of games to circle that will be taking place at the Dome.
But while glossing over the schedule and starting to text your friends about what day to book your reunion weekend, I will tell you the good, the bad, and the ugly from the ACC slate.
The Good
Well there is no shortage of talent making their way up to the Dome this season within the ACC. It is always a good year when you can host both Duke and North Carolina to bring the blue bloods up north, but a supporting cast consisting of Louisville, who poses a threat to win the ACC outright, a return for Adrian Autry when Virginia comes to town, and even a sneaky game against Stanford is fun for all ‘Cuse fans to attend.
Also, the road trips aren’t all that bad for this Syracuse team. Obviously you would like to face tougher teams in less hostile environments when you are away from home, and quite frankly, the Orange do. There are some road games for the taking for GMac and company, and they get to escape the Syracuse winter and go to Florida not once but twice in the month of January. No denying that the players will be fired up about that.
The Bad
Oddly, the Orange do not play many home conference games on the weekends when the calendar turns to 2027. Obviously, there is just something special about an ACC opponent making the trip to upstate New York with a Saturday tip and a student-filled JMA Wireless Dome, but that does not happen much this season, and there are downsides to a few of them. Over the course of conference play, the home Saturday games are:
- Jan 2 (no students) vs. Georgia Tech
- Jan 16 vs. Louisville*
- Jan 23 vs. North Carolina*
- March 6 vs. Wake Forest
That’s it. Two real weekend marquee matchups and two duds, while all other conference home games during the weekday. They played five home Saturday games last year and all of them took place with students on campus.
Oh, and with Wildhack gone no Big Monday games for the Orange, but maybe that is a good thing after the results last year…
The Ugly
Look, having Duke up in Syracuse is great, but man, having it over winter break without a student section is just really, really unfortunate. Duke has become the marquee opponent and to have it take place without fans is brutal for Syracuse fans. I still think that the Dome will be packed, but there is something about a student section, the possibility of a court storm, and all of those factors that just will not be at play. You can’t blame Duke, they are the best opponent on every ACC teams schedules and Syracuse is coming off a few not so great years.
But overall, a lot to take away from the conference schedule dropping. We’ll have more schedule thoughts coming tomorrow, but what are your takeaways on this ACC schedule?