Syracuse & UConn Again Next Season? Kevin Ollie Says 'Hopefully' So

We've been saying for a while that Syracuse Orange basketball has a pretty good scheduling deal on it's hands right now. Not only is it guaranteed marquee games against the Duke Blue Devils, North Carolina Tar Heels and Louisville Cardinals every year, but a desire to maintain relations with former Big East foes also means we'll see a lot of the Georgetown Hoyas, Villanova Wildcats, St. John's Red Storm and Connecticut Huskies.

Those are the only four former Big East rivals that Syracuse should schedule moving forward, not just for rivalry purposes but also for their recruiting & media market bases. The simple plan should be for the Orange to always have two or three of those teams on the non-conference schedule every season. They come with built-in interest and it keeps old rivalries alive while new ones develop. Win-win all around.

While the Orange and Huskies just so happened to play this season thanks to fortuitous Battle 4 Atlantis scheduling, the two schools have yet to actually sign a home-and-home deal during the season. We know that those discussions have been taking place but now it sounds like they may be closer than ever to happening.

KO says Syracuse game likely to be scheduled next year @NunesMagician

— TheUConnBlog (@TheUConnBlog) January 20, 2016

Kevin Ollie said "hopefully" uconn will play syracuse next year. I'm told details are still being worked out.

— Dom Amore (@AmoreCourant) January 20, 2016

Still early but it sounds as if any UConn/Syracuse deal would involve at least one game at Madison Square Garden.

— A Dime Back (@ADimeBack) January 20, 2016

That jives with what had been previously-reported and it makes a lot of sense for both schools to take advantage of the New York City proximity. Not to mention that Syracuse vs. UConn in MSG will launch a thousand Six Overtimes retrospectives.