Syracuse
Syracuse, N.Y. -- Syracuse will play California for the third time in as many years when the Orange take on the Golden Bears in the semifinals of the 2K Classic at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 20.
The 2K Classic's bracket for the semifinals and finals was revealed on Wednesday.
The third installment in the Syracuse-California trilogy series is becoming to basketball what Rocky Balboa was to boxing sequels, what Twilight was to vampire epics and what Freddy Krueger was to horror flicks.
Syracuse and California met in the 2012-13 NCAA Tournament with Syracuse handing the Golden Bears a 66-60 defeat. The two met again in last year's Maui Invitational with Syracuse taking a 92-81 victory.
Syracuse and Cal have met a total of three times. Their first game ever came in the 2009-10 2K Classic. Syracuse beat the 13th-ranked Golden Bears 95-73. So this year's contest will be the fourth meeting in the last six years.
The multiple meetings between Syracuse and California are unusual but not unprecented.
Here is a look at Syracuse's most familiar foes (Note: Since Syracuse joined the Big East in 1980. Major conference teams only.)
Florida: Syracuse got accustomed to facing the Gators during the 2000s. The two teams played each other four times in a 7-year period from 2005-06 to 2011-12.
Michigan State: In a 5-year stretch beginning in 1999-2000, Syracuse saw the Spartans more often than the Gators. Syracuse and Michigan State played each other four times in five years, including a stretch of three straight years in 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04.
UMass & Mizzou: It wasn't a long series, but a bizarre twist of fate led to Syracuse playing Massachusetts and Missouri twice in one season. Syracuse played Mizzou twice in the 1988-89 season -- once in the Big Apple NIT and again in the NCAA tournament. Syracuse won both. SU played UMass twice in the 2007-08 season. Once in the regular season and again in the NIT. Both at the Carrier Dome. And UMass won both games.
Kentucky: Kentucky does Michigan State one better. Syracuse played the Wildcats in four consecutive years from 1993-94 through 1996-97. Throw in another game during the 2000 NCAA tourney and Syracuse played Kentucky five times in seven years. And that doesn't include a 1988-89 meeting.
Notre Dame: Syracuse and Notre Dame have been conference foes since 1996; first in the Big East and now in the ACC. So a generation of Syracuse fans might not remember a time when the Orange and the Irish played as non-conference foes.
And Notre Dame was a regular fixture on SU's schedule from 1984 to 1992. Syracuse played Notre Dame in four consecutive seasons from 1988-89 through 1991-92. The two also played in 1984-85 and 1985-86. That's a total of six games in an 8-year span.
Syracuse and Cal would have to play again in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons to match the SU-Notre Dame streak.
Related Stories
Post a Comment for "Syracuse"