Syracuse basketball: Circling the can’t miss games of the 2018-2019 season

Good news, gang. The ACC finally released its conference schedule, which means that the Syracuse Orange have a complete picture of its 2018-2019 basketball schedule. Jim Boeheim’s team will assuredly meet its challenges this season in what figures to be a formidable non-conference schedule and top-2 basketball league in the country.

With that said, there are of course certain games that need circling following the schedule completion. We’ve highlighted the can’t miss games of the season in sequential order, below.

Nov. 15 (Thurs.): UConn Huskies (at MSG)

The first test of the young season. Syracuse will travel down to Madison Square Garden to play against the team from the sixth borough some mid-major team from Storrs, CT. This game will offer some intrigue with first-year head coach Dan Hurley. You’ll be getting all the 6OT content once again.

Nicole Sweet-USA TODAY Sports

Nov. 16 (Fri.): Iowa Hawkeyes/Oregon Ducks (at MSG)

After Syracuse beats the former basketball powerhouse turned irrelevant NIT hopeful, the Orange will likely face off against a top ranked Oregon team in the finals the very next night. Neutral court or not, Doug Gottlieb will be letting you know that Syracuse hasn’t left the state of New York if it wins against the Ducks.

Nov. 28 (Wed.): at Ohio State Buckeyes

The week after Thanksgiving, Syracuse will leave the state of New York to participate in the Darius Bazley Classic ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Orange will infiltrate Columbus, OH, you’ll have horrid flashbacks to the 2012 Elite Eight and somewhere Matthew Moyer will be watching.

Dec. 8 (Sat.): Georgetown Hoyas

Decent home game on a Saturday in December against another mid-major.

Dec. 18 (Tues.): Buffalo Bulls

Lotta dudes back from a good team that beat Arizona in the NCAA Tournament.

Jan. 5 (Sat.): at Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The first game of conference play in the new year. Syracuse will travel to South Bend and look to get revenge for that deplorable game in the Carrier Dome a season ago.

Jan. 14 (Mon): at Duke Blue Devils

Syracuse will travel down to Durham for what figured to be an important conference game that could determine standings within the conference when things are all said and done. Both Duke and Syracuse should be top-5 teams in the ACC in 2018-2019, so if Syracuse can steal a game on the road against a young team on Big Monday, that could go a long way for the Orange.

Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

Jan. 26 (Sat.): at Virginia Tech Hokies

Buzz Williams will be sweating through your television and/or streaming device as Virginia Tech looks to take care of business at home. Tech is going to be underrated, and very good this year.

Feb. 23 (Sat.): Duke Blue Devils

Syracuse will play Duke twice in the same conference season for the first time since 2014-2015. This is the way it should be. Hope you show up to the Carrier Dome with you and 35,000+ of your friends on College Gameday in what figures to be the biggest game of the Syracuse regular season.

Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Feb. 26 (Tues.): at North Carolina Tar Heels

No rest for the weary as SU will turn around quickly after the Duke game to play that other team from Tobacco Road. At least Boeheim can take solace in the fact that this game won’t be played on a Monday. Or in Greensboro.

March 4 (Mon.): Virginia Cavaliers

Senior Day in what should be the last game in the Carrier Dome of the season. We will all shed many tears in saying goodbye to our beloved Frank Howard for a remarkable four-year career. We will also likely be saying goodbye to Tyus Battle, Oshae Brissett and Paschal Chukwu. Virginia will also likely blow a double-digit halftime lead.

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What say you, Orange Nation? Any games we missed that you might be looking forward to?

You know the drill. Drop a comment or two below.