What will it take to make the Syracuse-Georgetown rivalry even hotter for the 100th year?

Syracuse, NY – On Saturday, Syracuse and Georgetown will renew their rivalry for the 100th time at the JMA Wireless Dome.

Well, that’s not entirely true.

Yes, Saturday’s game will be the 100th game between Syracuse and Georgetown, but even though the two schools first met on the hardwood in 1930, the rivalry between them actually began 50 years later.

Syracuse and Georgetown played 17 basketball games against each other before John Thompson ignited the rivalry with a legendary quote.

After Georgetown defeated Syracuse 52-50 on February 13, 1980, ending Syracuse’s 57-game home winning streak in the final game at Manley Field House, Thompson dug the knife a little deeper into the hearts of Syracuse fans and said, “Manley Field House It is officially closed.”

His words sounded even more insulting when spoken in Thompson’s deep, booming James Earl Jones jealousy voice.

That’s where the rivalry began.

Beginning in 1930 with a thrilling 40-18 win for Syracuse, the two schools met 17 times over the next 50 years. Only once during that span did Syracuse and Georgetown play each other twice in the same season.

The Orangemen and Hoyas only played each other twice in the entire 1970s.

During the disco era, Syracuse played Buffalo, Army, Fordham and many other schools more often than Georgetown.

But there were the Hoyas, walking into Manley Field House on February 13, 1980.

This was the first year of the Big East Conference. The new league had yet to adopt a true round-robin schedule, so this game would be the only regular season game between the two schools.

Syracuse was ranked No. 2 nationally and won 105-80 against St. Bonaventure, arguably the basketball program’s biggest rival at the time.

The stunning defeat left Syracuse fans and players out in the cold in silence.

Two weeks later, Georgetown managed again, defeating Syracuse 87-81 in the first Big East tournament in Providence, Rhode Island

Beginning with those two bitter defeats, Syracuse played Georgetown 27 times over the next 10 years.

27 games in the 1980s. Big East tournament showdowns in 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1989.

Michael Graham beats Andre Hawkins. Pearl Washington’s final attempt to defeat the No. 1 Hoyas at the Dome. Patrick Ewing’s haymaker that narrowly missed Pearl.

That’s when the rivalry began, and it was red hot.

Since Saturday’s game will be my 59th game between Syracuse and Georgetown, I wonder what it will take to restore the rivalry to its former glory.

The rivalry first began to weaken as the Big East expanded and the two rivals did not always play each other twice per season.

Then Syracuse left the Big East after the 2012-13 season.

In what was supposed to be the last Big East meeting between the two schools, Georgetown embarrassed Syracuse 61-39 in the 2013 regular season finale in Washington, D.C. Thompson, long retired and now an observer on the sidelines, was celebrated with a sly gesture.

But the Orange exacted one last act of revenge before heading out the door to the ACC.

In the semifinals of the 2013 Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden, Syracuse defeated Georgetown 58-55 in overtime, with CJ Fair delivering the winning blow with a dunk over Georgetown’s Otto Porter.

A two-year break followed. Since then, officials at both schools have tried to maintain the rivalry. The Orange and Hoyas have played 10 times since SU left the ACC.

But the games are now in December; not March.

On Saturday, Chris Bell will be the only Syracuse starter who has previously played in the SU-Georgetown rivalry. Can the average Syracuse fan name a single Georgetown player?

How can you hate someone you barely know?

For now, the rivalry means the most to the big men with graying hair and creaky knees. That’s why Fair, Arinze Onuaku and Hakim Warrick were at the game in DC last year

Syracuse coach Adrian Autry, who has played nine SU-Georgetown games, has to show his players videos of past games to make them realize the importance of the game.

Last year, Georgetown coach Ed Cooley admitted he didn’t really have a feel for the rivalry until he heard “Let’s Go, Orange!” Chants from Syracuse fans in the final minutes after the Orange’s victory at Capital One Arena.

Still, it’s a rivalry worth keeping. Louisville and Kentucky have never been in the same conference, but they hate each other.

Autry and Cooley have both stated that they want to continue the rivalry annually. That’s good news, as Saturday’s game is the last of the current agreement between the two schools.

But what this rivalry really needs is meaning.

Let’s face it, neither school has enjoyed basketball glory in recent years.

The last time either team was ranked at the time of a game was in the 2015/16 season. Syracuse, ranked 14th, lost to an unranked Hoyas team in DC

The last time Georgetown and Syracuse played each other when both were ranked was in the 2013 semifinals at the Garden.

There is no longer a conference round robin. No showdowns in the Big East tournament. No proximity like Louisville-Kentucky or Cincinnati-Xavier.

If this rivalry is to continue, it will take more than a new four-year contract.

This rivalry, whether it began in 1930 or 1980, will depend on the strength of the two basketball programs to regain relevance.

If the Orange and Hoyas are good again – really good, not just good as a bubble team – then a new generation of fans might care about this game as much as their court-rushing predecessors did in 1985, when Pearl’s shot Ewing and the No .1 defeated. 1st ranking in the nation.

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