Syracuse basketball set to make a second appearance in New York City next season

The Orange are finalizing a game with Big Ten member Rutgers to be played at Barclays Center, adding another neutral site game to the schedule.

Nov 3, 2025; Brooklyn, New York, USA; An exterior view of the area before the game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Minnesota Timberwolves at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images | John Jones-Imagn Images

It certainly seems like we will be seeing a lot of Syracuse basketball games in the Big Apple during the non-conference portion of future schedules, as long as Gerry McNamara is head coach.

College Hoops Today's Jon Rothstein, citing multiple source, reported Wednesday, that the Orange and Big Ten member Rutgers are finishing up details on a contract to meet at Barclays Center in Brooklyn during the upcoming season.

Currently, Syracuse and St. John's are working out final details on a game at Madison Square Garden, which would give SU maximum early season exposure against another former regional rival.

This scheduling trend to keep the brand fresh and relevant in the city no matter the conference affiliation, what with so many alumni in the metro area, and its accessibility to so many more in the extended I-95 corridor, can not come soon enough.

SU last played a game in NYC versus Maryland, at Barclays, in December 2024.

A new 'Cuse scheduling trend with neutral site matchups

The meetings still to be finalized against Rutgers and St. John's at the two New York venues, would increase to four regular season games to be played on neutral courts in McNamara's first season, along with two exhibition games.

Syracuse is already set to face Indiana in Indianapolis and Providence in Boston, and the exhibition matchups are set against Niagara in Buffalo and Siena in Albany, along with a third preseason game still to be announced.

See the obvious new direction?

The exhibition games which would draw small crowds in the massive Dome are being played in NBA-sized venues down the Thruway each direction to play in front of friendly "home away from home" crowds, with more people on hand in smaller buildings.

Scheduling the non-conference games against power conference teams at NBA buildings, is a simple matter of economics in the continually challenging environment to raise more revenue. Event promotion companies pay guarantees and and in many cases some travel arrangements.

The days of scheduling home-and-home series may be limited to strictly the biggest name programs to assure big crowds at each school's respective building, versus what tournaments are willing to pay for single games or small multiple team events.

It also leaves a question of just how hard it will be to make the home game portion of the (14 games total) non-conference schedule attractive enough, to draw fans to the Dome before the ACC portion of the season gets underway.

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