Curtain closes on Syracuse-UConn rivalry, future matchups to be void of Big East intensity
Ryan MacCammon | Staff Photographer
Jim Boeheim walks off the court in his final Big East game against UConn. After the loss he said the rivalry would deteriorate as Syracuse moves to the ACC.
HARTFORD, Conn. – Sometime down the line, Syracuse and Connecticut could play each other again. It would be a matchup to rekindle the memories of a rivalry that spanned decades, pitted two of the most successful coaches in college basketball against each other and helped the Big East grow into a conference defined by basketball.
But it could never be the same.
“The biggest rivalries are going to be the teams in your league,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. “That’s just the way it is.”
The Orange’s loss to the Huskies on Wednesday at the XL Center capped the rivalry between the two Big East basketball powerhouses. With Syracuse moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference next season and the Huskies remaining in the Big East – for now – the chances of the teams playing again are uncertain.
Boeheim said Syracuse is open to playing anybody, but emphasized it wouldn’t be the same. The intensity wouldn’t be there. It would be a nonconference game that means nothing to Syracuse’s place in its league standings.
Regardless of whether the teams play again in the future, the rivalry as it currently stands is over.
“It’s been a great series,” Boeheim said. “Connecticut and Syracuse have had so many great games over the years.”
The series already took on a different tone when former Huskies head coach Jim Calhoun retired after last season and Kevin Ollie took over as head coach.
Before the Big East, the Orange’s rival was St. Bonaventure, Boeheim said Wednesday. Now they’re on two different levels in terms of national recognition and rarely play each other anymore. Boeheim also said Syracuse rarely ever played Louisville before it moved from Conference-USA to the Big East in 2005. Now the Cardinals are one of the Orange’s fiercest rivals.
So the rivalry stands with Syracuse holding a 54-37 advantage over Connecticut. The Orange and Huskies could meet again in future seasons, and play a game void of the intensity that defined the battles they fought in the last three decades.
Like the rivalry, the Big East will never be the same.
“The league wasn’t able to be kept together,” Boeheim said. “I feel bad about the whole thing.”
Published on February 14, 2013 at 1:14 am
Contact Chris: cjiseman@syr.edu | @chris_iseman
