The UConn men’s basketball rivalry with Syracuse will likely be renewed in an exhibition capacity this fall, according to a report from college basketball insider Jon Rothstein on Tuesday.
The two old Big East programs, headed in opposite directions in recent years, are reportedly finalizing an agreement for an exhibition game at Mohegan Sun Arena on Oct. 13, which would be their first meeting since Nov. 2018 in the 2k Empire Classic. UConn won that game, 83-76, at Madison Square Garden and improved to 39-56 in the all-time series, which dates back to 1956.
It will be the third year in a row that the Huskies host an exhibition at Mohegan Sun, where they beat Boston College last season and Rhode Island the year prior.
UConn is also set to host Purdue on Oct. 27 and visit Michigan State as part of the home-and-home exhibition series that began in Hartford last season. This is the first year that college basketball teams are allowed three exhibition matchups.
The Huskies are preparing to play what will likely be the most challenging nonconference schedule in program history with games against Michigan, Duke, Kansas, Arizona, Illinois, Virginia and Ohio State.
“It’s an arduous schedule. We’re banking on the fact that we’ve been very successful in nonconference games because of what we do in the summer and then our style of play, for people who haven’t played against us, gives us some type of small advantage,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said last week. “You’re trying to play nonconference games versus the best teams so that, twofold, you can identify how good you are and where you need to get better, real true tests, and they’re games that move the needle for you relative to getting in the tournament, and then put you in a situation where you have a good seed for the tournament. Those are not the games that hurt you if you lose them.”
Syracuse, beginning its 14th year in the ACC, has not made the NCAA Tournament since 2021. The Orange recently fired former head coach Adrian Autry after consecutive losing seasons and brought back former point guard and assistant coach Gerry McNamara, whose Sienna team nearly upset Duke with only five players in the first round of this year’s NCAA Tournament, as head coach.
The Orange will be headlined by sophomore Kiyan Anthony, son of Syracuse legend Carmelo Anthony. The 6-foot-5 former four-star, top-40 prospect averaged 8.0 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.9 assists in 18.7 minutes per game as a freshman.
McNamara spoke about potentially reviving the rivalry on a Sirius XM podcast with Adam Schein earlier this month.
“I’ve talked to Danny (Hurley) this offseason, it’s something obviously that both fanbases would love,” he said. “I despised UConn. And they despised me. I think part of it is, and it’s undeniable, I have a great appreciation for that program. Part of the appreciation was how good and talented they were. And they were hard to beat, so when you lose to a team, you get pissed off and you hate them. Obviously what Danny’s done, they’re right there, they’re back in the mix in terms of top teams in college basketball and we want to be on that stage. I want to play against the best teams and coach against the best coaches. Rick Pitino’s elite, Danny Hurley’s elite, I want to be among the elite. The way you do that is you continue to challenge your program and put yourself on that stage.”
