An Overly In-Depth Look at the 2024-25 Syracuse Men's Basketball Schedule

The finalized schedule for the 2024-25 season was released Tuesday evening.

I’m going to offer a quick analysis of the schedule, but let’s remember a few things:

1. It’s a little difficult to get a true grasp on the schedule without seeing teams play - this is especially true in the transfer portal era when roster turnover is massive…and when there are 3 brand new teams entering the ACC in SMU, Stanford, and Cal.

2. I’m using Torvik’s pre-season rankings…these obviously aren’t perfect, but they are the best rankings out at this point in time.  I’ve also included ESPN Bracketology picks in this post to get an idea of projected quality opponents.  KenPom should release his rankings sometime in October and that will be its own post (which I’m sure nobody will be upset with).

Here are the main storylines for this schedule in my mind:

1. If everything stays like this, there aren’t a lot of opportunities for marquee wins in ACC play

   1. Tennessee, Texas, Maryland, and maybe Texas Tech are big opportunities for resume-boosting.

   2. In ACC play, you have 4 chances for a higher level win - Duke, UNC, Miami, Wake Forest…and you only get one shot at each of them.

2. Syracuse plays most of the higher-tier opponents in the Dome.

   1. (2) Duke, (6) UNC, (31) Wake Forest, (51) Pittsburgh, and (65) UVA) are all home games. And Pittsburgh is the only team out of that group they play twice.

   2. They do, however, go to (26) Miami, (46) Clemson, (57) SMU for road games.

3. January 22 on is a tough spot

   1. This slate will have a lot to say about Syracuse and the postseason:

      1. Syracuse plays at Clemson, hosts Pittsburgh, and then takes their west coast trip (Wed/Sat at Stanford and Cal)

      2. They come back from that west coast trip (and a 10pm Saturday tip against Cal) to face Duke at home on Wednesday…don’t love this

      3. Then they get BC at home for what will hopefully be a fairly easy win

      4. Then it’s UNC at home, at Pitt, and a week off

      5. After the week off, they host NC State, go to Virginia Tech, go to SMU, and then host UVA for the season finale

4. The non-conference slate is a nice mix

   1. (5) Tennessee on the road will obviously be a challenge

   2. (108) Georgetown at home is nice

   3. (42) Maryland and (11) Texas at neutral sites should have tournament vibes (plus whoever Syracuse gets in the Legends Classic in (81) St. Joseph’s or (19) Texas Tech)

   4. (171) Cornell, (203) Colgate, and (200) Youngstown State are traditionally top teams in their conferences

   5. (262) Albany and (257) Bucknell should be easy wins

5. Random Notes on Game Days/Times

   1. Saturday Noon Games

      1. HOME = Pitt

      2. AWAY = Notre Dame, VT

   2. Saturday Afternoon Games

      1. HOME = Notre Dame (4), BC (3:15)

      2. AWAY = Boston College (3)

   3. Saturday Evening/Night

      1. HOME = UNC (6), UVA (8)

      2. AWAY = Florida State at 6 , Cal (10)

   4. Tuesday Games

      1. HOME = GT, Louisville

      2. AWAY = Miami, Pitt, SMU

   5. Wednesday Games

      1. HOME = Duke, NC State

      2. AWAY = Clemson, Stanford

   6. Weird New Year’s Eve Game at 2 at the Dome vs. Wake Forest

6. SATURDAY-TUESDAY SWINGS

   1. SAT at FSU, Tues vs. GT

   2. Sat at BC, Tues vs. Louisville

   3. Sat vs. BC, Tues at Miami

   4. Sat vs. UNC, Tues at Pitt - this is a tough one

   5. Sat at VT, Tues at SMU - this is also a tough one

   6. Sat vs. UVA, ACCT in Charlotte Tues/Wed/Thurs

7. 3 BEST NONCON OPPONENTS

   1. Tennessee (5th)

   2. Texas (11th)

   3. Maryland (42nd)

** Could be Texas Tech (19th) in Legend’s Classic, but probably only if SU beats Texas

8. 3 WORST NONCON OPPONENTS

   1. Albany (267)

   2. Bucknell (257)

   3. Colgate (203)

Le Moyne should probably be listed here but they don’t have a Torvik ranking for some reason

9. 3 BEST ACC OPPONENTS

   1. Duke (2) at home

   2. UNC (6) at home

   3. Miami (26) on the road

10. 3 WORST ACC OPPONENTS

    1. Boston College (151) at home and on the road

    2. California (108) on the road

    3. Stanford (98) on the road

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Overall, I think this is a pretty good schedule for Syracuse. There are some challenging non-conference games (even outside of the marquee matchups) and the ACC schedule is…in my opinion…pretty favorable for the most part.