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| Jim Boeheim & John Thompson (r) |
From our friends at Georgetown Athletics...
Georgetown University and Syracuse University announced today in a joint release that the schools will renew their long-time rivalry in men’s basketball beginning in the 2015-16 season with a four-year home-and-home series.
One of the preeminent rivalries in all of college basketball, Georgetown will host the Orange at Verizon Center during the 2015-16 season and the Hoyas will visit the Carrier Dome in 2016-17.
“We’re excited to announce the renewal of the Georgetown-Syracuse rivalry,” Georgetown University Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Lee Reed said. “The reestablishment of this series is good for college basketball fans across the country. I know that our program and fans will be excited to have a game against Syracuse on our schedule. This is something that both schools have worked very hard to have happen and we’re very happy to have this series continue.”
“Continuing this historically important rivalry has always been of the highest priority for us since our move to the ACC, and something I know our players, coaches, fans and the entire SU community are excited about,” said Syracuse Director of Athletics Dr. Daryl Gross. “When Syracuse and Georgetown go head-to-head – the history is unmatched – and the entire nation pays attention. Clearly our move to the ACC has been tremendous on all fronts, but sometimes you can have the best of both worlds – and this series fits that concept.”
The teams have met 90 times in program history, with Syracuse leading the head-to-head series, 49-41. Georgetown has won four of the last seven meetings between the teams, winning twice in the 2012-13 regular season, a 61-39 win at Verizon Center, and a 57-46 decision at the Carrier Dome.
The game against Syracuse will be the first regular season matchup between the teams since the Hoyas beat the Orange, 61-39, at Verizon Center, clinching the 2012-13 BIG EAST Regular Season title.
Georgetown and Syracuse were two of the original members of The BIG EAST Conference that first competed in the 1979-80 campaign. The teams met for the first time in 1929-30 and all but 17 of the 90 games in the series came while the programs were affiliated with The BIG EAST. Syracuse became a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2013-14.
“Georgetown against Syracuse is one of the great rivalries in college basketball,” Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III said. “From Game One all the way through our last game, the passion, emotion and intensity of this rivalry is hard to match. We look forward to renewing the series that has generated some of the great moments in our sport.”
“In the early days of the BIG EAST Conference, the Syracuse-Georgetown matchup quickly developed into one of college basketball’s best rivalries,” said Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim. “The games in that series have been played at a remarkably high level over the years. We’re looking forward to the challenge of playing Georgetown again.”
The game with Syracuse will be one of several great non-league match-ups for the Hoyas, who will also begin play in the Gavitt Tipoff Games in 2015-16. That annual series will feature eight men’s basketball games played between the BIG EAST Conference and the Big Ten Conference and is named in honor of Dave Gavitt, founder of the BIG EAST and a basketball visionary.
