Syracuse, N.Y. ― The highlight of Syracuse’s non-conference schedule this season is the Players Era Festival, a 32-team event taking place in Las Vegas during Thanksgiving week.
I can tell that Syracuse fans are looking forward to the Orange playing in some high-level games because I’ve been getting quite a few questions regarding the Players Era Festival.
I selected two questions for this week’s Mailbox because they tapped into my love of basketball history.
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Q: It looks like Syracuse will play three Top 25 teams in a row out in Las Vegas. When is the last time that happened? - Pat G.
Mike: Syracuse will open up the Players Era Festival on Monday, Nov. 24 against current No. 2 Houston. The next day SU will play No. 24 Kansas. Syracuse’s third opponent in the event is yet to be determined.
With several other teams in the Associated Press Top 25 poll in the Players Era Festival (No. 7 Michigan, No. 11 Alabama, No. 13 Gonzaga, No. 14 St. John’s, No. 16 Iowa State and No. 22 Auburn, plus Oregon, Creighton, Baylor and San Diego State receiving votes in the poll), the Orange could play three straight games against nationally ranked teams.
But wait! There’s more!
When Syracuse returns home from Vegas, the Orange’s next game is against No. 20 Tennessee in the ACC/SEC Challenge. That’s potentially four straight games against nationally ranked teams.
The last time SU played four top-25 teams in a row was in the 2008-09 season.
In a brutal January stretch, Syracuse faced No. 13 Georgetown, No. 12 Notre Dame, No. 4 Pittsburgh and No. 9 Louisville. Syracuse was ranked eighth during that two-week period.
The Orange beat Notre Dame, but lost to the other three. Georgetown and Pitt were road games.
Q: Looking forward to November 24 when Syracuse plays No. 1 Houston. When was last time we played a top-ranked team? - Steve T.
Mike: Ah, another question with a historical bent. This one came in before the Cougars dropped to No. 2 in this week’s AP poll.
Syracuse’s last game against the nation’s No. 1 team was on Feb. 23, 2019 when the Orange lost 95-65 to No. 1 Duke.
Here’s the crazy thing: The last time Syracuse beat a No. 1 team was in the same season against the same Duke team. Syracuse handed No. 1 Duke a 95-91 overtime loss on Jan. 14, 2019.
And for what it’s worth, it’s been even longer since Syracuse beat the No. 2-ranked team in the AP poll. Syracuse beat No. 2 Pittsburgh 67-65 on Feb. 1, 2003.
Q: Has there been any discussion regarding the 2-3 zone being reinstated with this year’s squad? Better foot-speed for the bigs and better length by the guards could lend itself to more success with this group, IMHO. - Gerry C.
Mike: I haven’t heard the word “zone” come up once so far this season.
Adrian Autry’s preference is to play an aggressive, man-to-man defense. He wants to force the opposing team into mistakes.
Personally, I think any team that’s good in man-to-man would also be good in the zone. (I don’t think the reverse is true, by the way.)
But to be really good in the zone, you have to spend time in practice working on the zone, and I haven’t heard anything about the Orange working on the zone in practice this year.
