The 2017-18 Syracuse men’s basketball season tips off Friday at 7 p.m. inside the Carrier Dome. The Orange, which easily won both of its exhibition games, hosts Cornell. Jimmy Boeheim, the son of SU head coach Jim Boeheim, will suit up for the Big Red in the first game of his college career.

Here are answers to your gameday questions and pregame reading.

How can you watch the game? The game will air on the ACC Network Extra.

Who will win? Syracuse has not lost to Cornell since the 1960s, and our beat writers don’t think that streak will end. At least not this year, as all three are calling a double-digit SU win.

How has Syracuse looked this year? It’s still early, but SU won easily Monday night in its second exhibition game. Graduate Transfer guard Geno Thorpe debuted and Boeheim said he is getting what he would like out of his frontcourt.

Season outlook. All three beat writers see sophomore guard Tyus Battle as the team MVP, but they don’t agree on who or what the X-factor will be. Here are our season predictions for SU, which has not played in the NCAA Tournament two of the past three seasons.

Who won’t be playing? Elijah Hughes, who in May transferred from East Carolina to SU. Due to NCAA transfer rules, he must sit out this season, though one beat writer makes the case for why college basketball players deserve the freedom to play right away.

Gear up for the season with our annual Basketball Guide. We profiled Battle, Syracuse’s most important player this season. He needs to develop into the alpha SU needs. Near him in the backcourt will be Thorpe, who is SU’s oldest player (23 years old) playing for his third college in his final year of college basketball. Starting point guard, junior Frank Howard, is hoping to place past disappointment behind him.

Four new faces. The Orange welcomes four freshmen to this year’s squad. Bourama Sidibe looks to develop into the forward Syracuse’s frontcourt needs. Oshae Brissett, the only freshman starter so far, reluctantly left home for a shot at making it big. Howard Washington attended three high schools en route to Syracuse, and Marek Dolezaj battles an adjustment from European leagues to the NCAA.

Published on November 10, 2017 at 12:24 pm

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