Syracuse, N.Y. — Georgetown coach Ed Cooley seemed to ice the drama about whether the Syracuse-Georgetown basketball rivalry would continue beyond its 100th matchup back in December at the JMA Dome.
“It brings a lot of joy to the college game, of which, right now, with the state of college athletics, we need something to hang our hat on,” Cooley said after the Hoyas beat the Orange 75-71.
“As long as I’m head coach, I want to play this game each and every year.”
Syracuse coach Adrian Autry seemed to echo the sentiment.
“There’s no question I’d like to keep this going,” Autry said. “I think it’s a great rivalry. As we both try to make strides to get it back to where we’d both like it to be, I think it is something that resonates with both fan bases and alumni. I think I’d like to keep this going as well.”
Both coaches meant well, but their feelings were not strong enough to continue the rivalry. Syracuse will not play Georgetown in the upcoming 2025-26 season.
Does this mean that ding-dong the rivalry is dead, or are Syracuse and Georgetown just taking a break like Ross and Rachel did on “Friends”?
The fact is the series has been on borrowed time since Syracuse made the jump to the ACC in 2013.
Everything in life reaches an expiration date, and it may be time to face the hard truth that this rivalry has fizzled out of relevance.
Syracuse-Georgetown had a natural big-bang moment when Hoyas legend John Thompson declared Manley Field House closed back in 1979, ending Syracuse’s 57-game home-court win streak.
There’s no reason to keep Georgetown on the schedule other than a once-a-year infusion of nostalgia into the veins.
If we’re still in search of that fix, then add in an old Big East rotation of programs like St. John’s, Seton Hall, Providence, Villanova and Connecticut.
It doesn’t have to be Georgetown every year.
Not anymore.
The relevance of SU-Georgetown games has faded with the advent of the NET rankings and their all-important influence on NCAA Tournament resumes.
The Orange will participate in the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas and the ACC/SEC Challenge this season.
Both will provide more value in trying to break a four-year NCAA Tournament drought than playing Georgetown.
Then there is the matter that Syracuse hasn’t exactly held up its end of the bargain in recent years.
The Orange finished 14-19 last season with a KenPom ranking of 115th while the Hoyas were 18-16 and a KenPom mark of 90th.
Booming personalities like Jim Boeheim and Thompson no longer preside over the series (though Cooley can toss out some good soundbites).
Syracuse-Georgetown highlighted the best players in college basketball, including Patrick Ewing, Pearl Washington, Allen Iverson and Derrick Coleman.
The modern era of player movement has made it darn near impossible to establish any new personalities to pin on the rivalry board.
SU fans of a certain age have not been able to relate to why they hate Georgetown.
They’ve just been told by older fans who know what to say when asked the time and add that “Georgetown still sucks.”
A true college rivalry soaks right into your soul.
Michigan fans learn to hate Ohio State before they know how to walk.
North Carolina fans learn to despise Duke before they know how to talk.
The latest generation of Syracuse fans needs to pull up YouTube just to see what the big deal is/was about Georgetown.
Syracuse certainly isn’t keeping the Hoyas on the schedule to sell tickets.
Georgetown’s visit to the JMA Dome last December was the third-worst attended game in the rivalry since the facility opened as the Carrier Dome in 1980.
Syracuse-Georgetown had buzzer beaters, massive crowds, errant elbows, oranges hitting backboards, ejections, a starring role in an ESPN “30 for 30″ documentary and the essence of the Big East.
If absence truly makes the heart grow fonder, then perhaps the only way we’ll know if we need Syracuse-Georgetown in our lives is how much we’ll miss it when it is gone this season.
Contact Brent Axe: Email | X | BlueSky