Way-Too-Early Look: Syracuse vs. Tennessee

On Tuesday, it was announced that the Tennessee Volunteers will play Syracuse to open the Maui Invitational. Here is an early preview of the matchup.

On Tuesday, it was announced that the Syracuse Orange and Tennessee Volunteers would face off against one another to open up the Maui Invitational. The game is scheduled to tip off on November 20th at 2:30 p.m. E.T.

The Vols were highly successful in their last invitational tournament that resulted in the winning the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, beating Butler, USC (Calif.), and the defending national champion Kansas Jayhawks in the process. The Orange played in the Empire Classic for their invitational last season. They were winners against the Richmond Spiders but fell in the championship game to St. John's. Both teams found success in last season's invitationals, creating an intriguing matchup come November.

Tennessee HC Rick Barnes 

Syracuse was a "middle-of-the-road" team in the ACC last season. In legendary head coach Jim Boeheim's last year, the Orange finished 17-15 overall and went 10-10 in ACC play. Their season ended at the hands of Wake Forest in the ACC tournament. The final score was 77-74 as Demon Deacon guard Daivien Williamson hit a go-ahead three-pointer with under a second left in the game. This result caused the Orange to miss the NCAA tournament for the second straight season.

Syracuse played very poorly against AP-ranked opponents last year. They went 1-4, and this plays in Tennessee's favor since they were ranked for most of, if not all of, the season. The Volunteers are 3-3 all-time versus Syracuse, with the last meeting happening in 2002 when Tennessee won in Knoxville. The two teams have played on a neutral site once before in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, back during the 1976-77 season. It was the first round of the NCAA tournament that year and the Orange defeated the Vols in double overtime 93-88. The Orange and Volunteers are set to meet for the seventh time ever. 

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