Just over a decade ago, Syracuse and Duke faced off in two of the most memorable games in college basketball history.
This week, the Syracuse Orange will welcome the Duke Blue Devils into the Dome for just the eighth time in program history.
It will certainly be an uphill climb to play this Duke team, who enters the Wednesday game on a 15-game winning streak, a No. 2 ranking in the latest AP poll and an undefeated record against the ACC this year. As for Syracuse, who boasts a 7% chance to beat the Blue Devils per ESPN Analytics, a win here wouldn’t just be a win. It would be a miracle.
It’s safe to assume many fans (myself included) are just hoping for a close contest, or at least not a blowout in the first three minutes of the game (hello, 2022 home matchup). Plenty of seats remain open in the Dome for this year’s game. Both teams are essentially sitting in polar opposite directions in terms of their final destiny in 2024-25.
But just over a decade ago, fans on both sides of the aisle received arguably the best treat of them all: a pair of top-20 ranked matchups, including one top-five clash, both games each decided by a combined eight points.
And it all happened on two random nights in February.
The 2013-14 was a time of major change for the Syracuse men’s basketball program. It was the Orange’s inaugural year in the ACC after switching over from the Big East. It was the final year of an unforgettable peak for the absolute core of Orange Nation, that incredible 2008-09 to 2013-14 stretch.
In the context of the Duke versus Syracuse matchup, it was the best time for everyone (and yes, even for Duke fans, too).
Dating back to 1965-66, the schools had only faced off just four times ever (each program split those four games spanning four different cities — Raleigh, New York, Greensboro and St. Petersburg). The most recent matchup was in 1998, meaning it took another 16 years for the two historic giants of college basketball to reunite in the boxing ring.
That first game did anything but disappoint.
Syracuse entered that memorable February 1st, 2014 matchup with an undefeated record (21-0, 8-0) and the No. 2 ranking in the AP poll. Duke wasn’t far behind, sitting at No. 17 with a 17-5 record coming off a year where it made the Elite Eight. A then-record 35,446 rabid fans packed the Carrier Dome. For the ones who couldn’t make it, the clash was handily available in the primetime evening slot on ESPN.
For both teams and their fans, a jackpot of college basketball heroes myself and the rest of my generation grew up with without any doubt — Rakeem Christmas, Rodney Hood, Jerami Grant, Tyler Thornton, Tyler Ennis, Jabari Parker, C.J. Fair, Quinn Cook, Trevor Cooney. I could go on and on and on. A clash of the then-two winningest coaches in Division I history — Jim Boeheim and Mike Krzyzewski. One unforgettable night.
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Even the viewing experience will probably never be the same, and I don’t mean that from an attendance standpoint. The coaches in suits. The entire Dome standing up and erupting like a volcano. The classic, vintage ESPN scoreboard.
We all know how this story goes — neither team led by more than six points at any point during the game. Duke’s Rasheed Sulaimon comes down with seconds left to drill down an insane three to tie the game in regulation. Grant dunks the ball three times in a row in overtime. Syracuse outscores the Blue Devils down the end gets the last laugh at home, 91-89.
Or, maybe not.
Three weekends later, it was the call that forever lives in Syracuse sports infamy:
So much insanity and so much to process. Boeheim, in his first ever game at Cameron Indoor, ejected on one of the most controversial calls, just flat out ever. A top-five game coming down to a razor-thin margin, just weeks after what was easily deemed “one of college basketball’s best games of the season.”
Sometimes, you just can’t make this stuff up.
Since then, over the course of 10-plus years later, the script has completely flipped in terms of this clash of college basketball titans.
Syracuse has won just three of the last 16 matchups and lost nine in a row. The last time it did win in Syracuse, roughly eight years ago, it took John Gillon turning into a superhero. There’s been plenty of memorable moments over the years, but not only are the games and the results so different, but so is the aura. You just had to be there in 2014. I wish I fully was.
The state of what comes next for what was once deemed a “rivalry” is anyone’s guess going forward. Maybe there will be a point where both teams can reach that same peak and meet for another hardwood classic.
Regardless of what happens next, at least we’ll all have those two nights in February.