No. 21/22 Syracuse (10-3) vs. No. 4 Notre Dame (13-1) GameThread

The Syracuse Orange opens up conference play with, perhaps, its toughest test of the season.

Sure, Syracuse played (and almost beat) the top-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks.  But today, the Orange hosts Notre Dame, a perennial powerhouse who has routinely beaten up on the Orange dating back to their days in the Big East.

The game starts around 1 p.m. and airs on the ACC Network.  For those of you in the New York area, that'd be on the YES Network.

The Orange comes into the game on a two-game winning streak, after getting guard Brittney Sykes back from a knee injury.  Sykes averaged 16.6 points per game last season, before tearing her ACL in an NCAA Tournament game.  Her return helps the Orange, but so far Quentin Hillsman has eased her back in. In both games, Sykes played fewer than 20 minutes.

The Irish have won 15 straight against the Orange, dating back to 2002.  Syracuse has had some close calls against ranked teams this season including single-digit point losses to South Carolina and No. 9 Baylor.  The Orange is 0-3 against ranked teams, however, and a win today would go a long way in strengthening the team's tournament resume.

Leave your pre-, in- and post-game comments below.  I'll drop by for some updates and commentary throughout the day.

that's dope #blessed

A photo posted by B Sykes (@sykes20) on Jan 1, 2015 at 11:59am PST