Madison Square Garden has been known as Syracuse Basketball's "home away from home" over the years, and on Wednesday night SU Athletics announced that tradition will continue, even with the Orange moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference. Syracuse University and St. John's have agreed to a home-and-home basketball series for the next two years, continuing the Madison Square Garden game as well as the tradition of playing their New York State Big East Rivals.
"There are traditional series that are very important to us that go beyond conference affiliations," said Syracuse Director of Athletics Dr. Daryl Gross in a statement released by SU Athletics, "One of those is St John's, which has an obvious place in Syracuse basketball history. As we continue to aggressively secure rivalries that are dear to us, we are pleased to announce the continuation of this great series between two outstanding universities."
Syracuse and St. John's have played on the hardwood 86 times in total, both programs being original members of the Big East Conference. The two teams have met each other in the Big East Tournament four times.
"The rivalry with St. John's has been one of the strongest for our program," said Syracuse Head Coach Jim Boeheim in a statement on Wednesday night, "We had some great games when I was in school and the series continued to grow with Coach Carnesecca at St. John's right up to today with Coach Lavin. Playing in Madison Square Garden is always a special event for Syracuse and for our fans in New York City. It will be great that our fans in Central New York will have the chance to see St. John's in the Dome the following year."
