The Orange will take on the Scarlet Knights in February as part of a rebirth of an old Big East rival.
On Monday, the Syracuse Orange men's basketball program announced the resumption of a former Big East rivalry: They'll play Rutgers on Feb. 6, 2027 at the Barclays Center.
We have known about the meeting for a while now, but we did not know about the date, which is very interesting. The contest will happen right in the middle of Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play, leaving new head coach Gerry McNamara with some interesting decisions.
How does he handle this matchup? Does he treat it with less importance because it's not a league game, and it's in between big matchups against Virginia and Clemson?
Or, does he treat it with more importance because it's a winnable game within the confines of a difficult league schedule? Would a win against Rutgers help improve NCAA Tournament odds for the Orange in any way?
These are all things that McNamara will have to wrestle with.
Inside the numbers
All-time series record: Syracuse leads 39-10 in 49 previous matchups
Last matchup: Rutgers won 79-69 in 2020, but Syracuse had won 13 straight matchups before that.
No. 16: Syracuse has played Rutgers the 16th-most times of any opponent since the 1949-50 season (39 times)
They have only played Pitt, UConn, Georgetown, Boston College, St. John's, Colgate, Cornell, Villanova, Penn State, Canisius, Niagara, Providence, Notre Dame and West Virginia more.
About the Scarlet Knights
Rutgers has been out of the Big East since 2012-13, having spent one year (2013-14) in the AAC and 12 years in the Big Ten (2014-26) since. The Scarlet Knights went just 14-20 last season and have three straight losing seasons under their belt.
They haven't had a winning season since 2022-23 (19-15) and haven't had a winning season in the Big Ten (12-8) since 2021-22. They haven't been to the NCAA Tournament since that year either.
Other thing to know
It's unclear who exactly will be coaching Rutgers when this matchup takes place. Head coach Steve Pikiell has been diagnosed with cancer, but he is determined to beat it and to be around his team as much as possible. If he's unable to coach, his staff will take over in his absence.
Pikiell is heading into his 11th season as head coach at Rutgers.
Prior to Rutgers, he helped turn Stony Brook into an America East power, making the postseason six times in seven years. He also won the conference's Coach of the Year on four occasions. Beyond that, he was an assistant at George Washington, Central Connecticut State, Yale and UConn.
