It is not as big a worldwide event as a certain wedding inside the same venue in July, but the return of the St. John’s rivalry is big news to Orange fans.
While Syracuse basketball fans waited for the 2026-27 NBA schedule to be released Thursday, they were also waiting for clarity on when they could make plans to travel to New York City to watch the Orange play. The NBA schedule helped establish home dates for the defending champion New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, as well as the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center.
Once the NBA, NHL, arena schedules, and the current St. John’s schedule all showed openings on November 14-15, the pieces began to fall into place. Syracuse already had a nine-day break between its neutral-site matchup with Indiana on November 9 and its home game against Cornell on November 18, making that second weekend of November the obvious opening.
Several reports on Thursday confirmed that Syracuse and the St. John’s Red Storm are set to meet on Sunday, November 15, at Madison Square Garden, famously known as the “World’s Most Famous Arena.” The venue also recently hosted the highly publicized wedding of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.
Two trips to the Big Apple are set, and dreaming of a third trip come March
Even though the 2027 ACC Tournament is scheduled to take place in Greensboro, that doesn’t rule out Syracuse making appearances in Charlotte and potentially Madison Square Garden later in March. If Gerry McNamara and his staff can maximize the talent on their carefully assembled roster, the Orange could have a legitimate shot at making a long-awaited return to the NCAA Tournament.
Both venues are part of the expanded NCAA Tournament rotation. Charlotte is set to host first- and second-round games, while Pittsburgh is the geographically closest site to Central New York. Madison Square Garden, meanwhile, will host the East Regional for the fourth time since 2014.
The matchup with St. John’s will bring together two former Syracuse assistant coaches in McNamara and Hall of Famer Rick Pitino, whose respective assistant coaching stints at Syracuse came 45 years apart. It will be Syracuse’s first meeting with the Red Storm since the final season of Jim Boeheim’s tenure in 2022-23, when St. John’s, then coached by Mike Anderson, defeated the Orange 76-69 in overtime during the Empire Classic at Barclays Center.
Speaking of Barclays Center, the Brooklyn venue is expected to host Syracuse’s other trip to New York. The Orange are reportedly scheduled to face Rutgers there on Saturday, February 6.
That February matchup represents a departure from Syracuse’s typical post-New Year’s non-conference schedule. Since joining the ACC for the 2013-14 season, the Orange have played just one non-conference opponent after the calendar turned to January: Georgetown at the Dome on January 9, 2021, after ACC play had already begun, although only one conference game had been played at that point.
Syracuse’s 2026-27 non-conference schedule (excluding exhibition games — home games in CAPS)
Monday, Nov. 2 — NEW HAVEN
Thursday, Nov. 5 — CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE
Monday, Nov. 9 — Indiana (Indianapolis)
Sunday, Nov. 15 — at St. John’s
Wednesday, Nov. 18 — CORNELL
Saturday, Nov. 21 — LAFAYETTE
Wednesday, Nov. 25 — ALBANY
Tuesday, Dec. 1 — at Oklahoma (ACC-SEC Challenge)
Tuesday, Dec. 8 — COLGATE
Saturday, Dec. 12 — MERCYHURST
Wednesday, Dec. 16 — CANISIUS
Saturday, Dec. 19 — Providence (Boston)
Tuesday, Dec. 22 — BINGHAMTON
Saturday, Feb. 6 — Rutgers (Brooklyn)
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