UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- The UConn Huskies men's basketball team will open up its exhibition slate on Tuesday night when it takes on the Syracuse Orange at 7 p.m. ET at Mohegan Sun Arena.

For the Huskies, it will be the first time we've seen them since they lost the national title game to Michigan in April. For the Orange, it will be the first game of the Gerry McNamara-era, as the former star took over for the now-fired Adrian Autry at head coach.

It will also be the revitalization of a longstanding rivalry between the two former Big East rivals. While happy to be playing the Orange in this forum, Huskies head coach Dan Hurley said he'd like to see the game become an annual tradition in the regular season. He suggested perhaps a non-conference game at Madison Square Garden.

While I don't want to put words in his mouth, that seems like something that McNamara would love to make happen also. Earlier this offseason, he said he wanted to play UConn, and he's also worked to schedule some of Syracuse's old Big East rivals for the regular season.

The Orange are playing non-conference games this year against Providence, Rutgers and St. John's. Re-connecting the Orange with its old Big East foes seems to be a priority for him.

UConn and Syracuse have played 90 times since 1956, with the Huskies going 37-53 in those matchups. They haven't met in the regular season since 2018. While just an exhibition, Tuesday's contest will provide some nostalgia for longtime fans.

Syracuse is coming off a 15-17 regular season and hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament in five years. Simply put, if the Huskies are going to put the Orange on the schedule regularly, McNamara will have to get his program turned around to make it worth it for the Huskies, you would think.

UConn is playing arguably the toughest non-conference schedule we've ever seen this season, complete with matchups against Michigan, Kansas, Illinois, Arizona, Virginia and Ohio State. Hurley is challenging his team and Syracuse will eventually need to be able to provide that challenge as well.

The belief in Central New York is that McNamara is up for the task.

This is the first of three exhibition games for UConn, who will also take on national powers Michigan State and Purdue. The regular season begins on Nov. 2 at 9 p.m. ET against Gardner-Webb.