We knew that the Orange were going to play Oklahoma in the ACC-SEC Challenge, but now we know the date.
On Thursday night, we learned that the Syracuse men's basketball team is going to play the University of Oklahoma in this season's iteration of the ACC-SEC Challenge.
On Friday afternoon, we learned exactly when that game will be.
As noted by Samantha Croston, Syracuse television reporter, the game will take place in Norman, Okla. on Dec. 1. That is in line with when the Challenge took place last season: Syracuse beat Tennessee at home on Dec. 2. It was the biggest win for the Orange all season, as they went 15-17 on the campaign, missing the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight year.
Other matchups in the ACC-SEC Challenge
Arkansas @ North Carolina, Auburn @ Clemson, Duke @ Florida, Florida State @ Tennessee, Boston College @ Virginia, Wake Forest @ LSU, Ole Miss @ Virginia Tech, South Carolina @ NC State, Alabama @ Miami, Kentucky @ Louisville, Georgia Tech @ Mississippi State, Stanford @ Texas A&M, Vanderbilt @ Notre Dame and Texas @ Louisville.
That information came from Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.
Schedule impact
As stated above, Syracuse went 15-17 last season and missed the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight season. The goal is to return to the tournament under new head coach Gerry McNamara this season, and the way to do that is to amass a higher number of wins, but to also amass impact wins.
Beating a team like St. John's, who earned a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament last year, can help that, but so can beating high major teams like Indiana and Oklahoma. Both the Red Storm and the Hoosiers are on the schedule for Syracuse, as is Providence of the Big East.
The full schedule will be released later this summer.
About Oklahoma
The Sooners went 21-16 a season ago, finishing 7-11 inside the SEC. They played in the College Basketball Crown postseason tournament, winning two games before losing to West Virginia on April 5 (89-82 in OT). Despite the losing record, the Sooners will represent a solid challenge for McNamara's group.
Also in Syracuse men's basketball news
--McNamara has said he's spoken to UConn head coach Dan Hurley about reigniting the team's Big East rivalry. We discussed why that's not really possible.... yet.
--The Orange began their summer practice session on Wednesday, meaning McNamara got his first chance to talk with his team on the floor. You can hear his first message in this post, as we also broke down what he had to say.
Join the Conversation
Remember to join our SYRACUSE on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Orange fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!
