It will be the first time the former Big East rivals will not face each other in over a decade.
A long-time and former Big East rival appears to be out of the picture for the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball schedule in 2025-26.
Syracuse is reportedly not expected to play the Georgetown Hoyas next season, sources told Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports on Wednesday. The Orange most recently played the Hoyas during the 2024-25 season in what was the 100th all-time matchup between both programs.
If this is official, this will be the first season with no Syracuse-Georgetown game or #HoyaHateWeek since 2014-15.
Sources: Georgetown and Syracuse are not expected to play during the 2025-26 college basketball season.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 28, 2025
On paper, the decision for both sides make some sense. It is certainly one of the most iconic rivalries in college basketball history, but also doesn’t have the same “oomph” as it once had years ago. Syracuse lost at home 75-71 to G-Town this past year, which means the Orange miss an opportunity for revenge and another win in DC like we saw in 2023.
There’s also a purely resume-building for the NCAA Tournament factor to consider. The Hoyas finished 90th in KenPom, 88th in NET rankings and 18-16 in the 2024-25 season. This has turned into one of those matchups from Syracuse’s side of things where a win doesn’t do much to boost that resume, but a loss certainly has implications. We don’t know who the Orange will play in Las Vegas or in the ACC/SEC Challenge, so it might make sense to take a road game off the schedule for a year.
Part of the decision may also be the Hoyas finding a new ACC opponent. Rothstein also reported that Georgetown and North Carolina will begin a home-and-home series in 2025-26.
On the flip side, there’s also a case to be made that resume impacts or not, this decision does mark a new and now uncertain chapter in what comes next for the Orange-Hoyas matchup going forward. Considering coaches for both programs expressed clear interest in keeping the rivalry alive and the general richness of the history behind both programs, it will certainly be a change going forward.
There’s another key factor to consider: the ACC recently made the move to switch to a new in-conference scheduling format, which reduces the number of ACC games down from 20 to 18. That will give programs like Syracuse the extra flexibility to schedule a couple more non-conference games, so we’ll see how Syracuse chooses to round out the 25-26 schedule.
For now, the rivalry stands with the Orange leading the all-time matchup 54-46 and we are once again reminded that no matter the time, nor the place….Georgetown Sucks.
Now it’s your turn: what are your thoughts on the Orange-Hoyas matchup being put on pause next season?