On Tuesday, it was reported that the Syracuse men's basketball program is finalizing a non-conference matchup with St. John's in 2026-27. 

The game will take place at Madison Square Garden, which is something that new head coach Gerry McNamara stated he wanted earlier this offseason.

The addition of a St. John's game follows already-known non-conference games with Indiana, Providence and UAlbany.

It also offers multiple intriguing storylines for the Orange, which we dive a little deeper into here.

Because of the expanded NCAA Tournament field, Syracuse should have an easier chance to make the tournament in general, but it's still important to generate big wins over the course of a regular season.

Sure, Syracuse can do that by winning games in the talented Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), but they can also do that by scheduling tough out of conference games - and winning them.

Syracuse went 0-3 in the Players Era Festival last season, but did secure a big win against Tennessee at the JMA Wireless Dome. Unfortunately, that was the only signature win of the season for then-head coach Adrian Autry, who was replaced by McNamara in March.

St. John's won the Big East conference in the regular season and captured the Big East tournament title, meaning this should be an excellent opportunity for McNamara to make a statement.

Like him or not, Rick Pitino is one of the most decorated college basketball coaches in history. In his career at Hawaii, Boston University, Kentucky, Providence, Louisville, Iona and St. John's, he's gone 915-318.

He's been the Conference USA Coach of the Year, the SEC Coach of the Year, the MAAC Coach of the Year and the Big East Coach of the Year. He's been to 25 NCAA Tournaments and seven Final Fours, also winning national titles in 1996 and 2013.

He gave praise to McNamara during this year's tournament as Siena nearly beat Duke, and we'll get a chance to see McNamara against another big time coach in this matchup.

We kind of buried the lead here. The biggest story in this matchup isn't about coaches, venues or tournament chances, it's about reunions.

This game will mark the first time that Donnie Freeman is on the floor against Syracuse after transferring this offseason. The team's best player over the last two years, Freeman also entertained the idea of Kentucky and Connecticut before signing with Pitino's team.

There shouldn't be anything personal in this matchup, as Freeman said he left because of Autry's firing, but it still should provide quite the juicy storyline.

Will Freeman perform even better in Pitino's system? Will Syracuse regret not pushing harder to keep him? Will Syracuse play better without the ball-dominant Freeman in the rotation?

These are all things we'll come to find out.

The game time and date have not been announced yet.

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