Previewing Syracuse basketball's matchups with Virginia, California and SMU

As we countdown to the start of the 2025-26 Syracuse basketball season on Nov. 3, The Juice Online will be doing a team-by-team opponent analysis of every single ACC opponent. Today, we analyze Virginia, California and SMU, who SU will play in mid-February.

Virginia Cavaliers: February 7

UVA is going through a period of transition and uncertainty. Longtime head coach, Tony Bennett, retired before the season. Ron Sanchez took over in the interim, and now Ryan Odom takes over as the head coach full time.

UVA is coming off a lukewarm season where they finished ninth in the ACC but kept their defensive identity. Heading into the 25-26 season, the Cavs welcome ten newcomers to Charlottesville, among which are seven transfers.

Of the group, Malik Thomas (San Francisco) averaged 19.9 points on 39.4% from 3. On the guard/ballhandling side, Dallin Hall (BYU) is projected as a lead guard having made 30 starts, and is expected to handle primary playmaking duties.

Their big loss comes in the form of the lead scorer, Ryan McNeely (Louisville). There is some optimism heading into Odom’s first season as UVA is ranked in the top 60 in KenPom and were selected fifth in the preseason ACC poll.

California Golden Bears: February 11

California is coming off a disappointing ACC-debut season. The Golden Bear struggled mightily as they shot 41.9% (327th) from the field and 31.5% (311th) from three teams. Ultimately finishing 15th in the conference, Cal ended up losing their two biggest contributors Andrej Stojakovic (Illinois) and Jerimiah Wilkinson (Georgia). The duo combined for about 33 points per game, though the bears return leading rebounders Mady Sissoko and DeJuan Campbell.

Head coach Mark Madsen struggled a bit in the transfer portal/freshman class, which ranks 12th in the ACC. They brought in some guys to hopefully serve as long-time, as well as high upside pieces such as Dai Dai Ames (Virginia) and Justin Pippen (Michigan). Cal is one of the lowest ranked ACC teams in KenPom (87) and were picked to finish 15th in the ACC.

There is not a lot of optimism around this Cal team as they seem a few years out of being competitive.

SMU: February 14

Unlike Cal, SMU jumped out in their first ACC season and are poised to be a dominant team again. The Mustangs are coming off of a 24-11 record overall, finishing fourth in ACC under Andy Enfield. As a team, they held an offensive rating of 115.3 and defensive rating of 102.8, a net of 12.5.

They lost two of their leading players Chuck Harris and Matt Cross to eligibility, but they return a solid core of seniors with Boopie Miller (13.2 ppg, 5.5 apg), B.J. Miller (9.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 3.7 apt), and Samet Yiğitoğlu (10.0 ppg, 6.2 rpg) returning.

Enfield also brought in an impressive class that ranks 11th nationally and third in the ACC. The program brought in Corey Washington, Jaron Pierre Jr., and Sam Walters. Pierre averaged 21.6 ppg on 38.2% from 3 at Jacksonville State.

SMU ranks at 43 in the Ken Pom, were picked sixth in the ACC.

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