Starting in Syracuse and ending in New Hampshire, Cornell men’s basketball will travel to nine states around the country for 15 road games over the course of the 2017-18 regular season, the team announced Friday.
Looking to make its first Ivy League tournament in the event’s second year, Cornell’s 27 games will take the team to Boston, Virginia, Pittsburgh, Delaware and Alabama, among other locations.
The season kicks off at Syracuse for the 123rd meeting between the two in-state rivals, and will pin incoming freshman Jimmy Boeheim against his father, Jim, the head coach of the Orange. Syracuse has taken the past 37 matchups and owns a 91-31 record in the rivalry. The most recent Red victory came on Dec. 4, 1968 in Barton Hall, yet the Red is 0-22 all-time against the Orange at the Carrier Dome.
Cornell will then head back to Ithaca and have three days to prepare for its home-opener against Binghamton. Last year, the Bearcats edged the Red, 68-62, in what was head coach Brian Earl’s first game at the helm of the program.
The team will remain in the northeast for road matchups against Colgate and UMass Lowell, as well as a home tangle with Toledo before hitting the road for three non-conference games against Duquesne, Northeastern and Longwood.
Five additional non-conference games then separate Cornell and Ivy play, including matchups with Lafayette, Niagara, Delaware, Central Pennsylvania and the longest trip of the year to Auburn – the first ever meeting with the SEC opponent.
Cornell’s path to the Ivy tournament kicks off Jan. 20 with the ever-tough road trip to Penn and defending Ivy champs Princeton. The last 14 games of the season come against the Ancient Eight. The home finale at Newman Arena will be Feb. 24 against Brown, and the regular season finale comes the following weekend, March 3, at Dartmouth.
Should Cornell find itself in the top four of the Ivy League upon the end of regular season play, the team will play for an Ivy tournament title and automatic bid to NCAAs at the Palestra in Philadelphia, which begins March 9.
Below is a listing of the 2017-18 schedule:
Nov. 10: at Syracuse
Nov. 13: vs. Binghamton
No. 16: at Colgate
No. 19: at UMass Lowell
Nov. 24: vs. University of Toledo
Nov. 27: at Duquesne
Dec. 2: at Northeastern
Dec. 16: at Longwood
Dec. 20: vs. Lafayette College
Dec. 23: vs. Niagara University
Dec. 28: at Delaware
Dec. 30: at Auburn
Jan. 5: vs. Central Pennsylvania College
Jan. 12: at Penn*
Jan. 13: at Princeton*
Jan. 20: at Columbia*
Jan. 27: vs. Columbia*
Feb. 2: vs. Dartmouth*
Feb. 3: vs. Harvard*
Feb. 9: at Brown*
Feb. 10: at Yale*
Feb. 16: vs. Princeton*
Feb. 17: vs. Penn*
Feb. 23: vs. Yale*
Feb. 24: vs. Brown*
March 2: at Harvard*
March 3: at Dartmouth*
March 9-11: Ivy League Tournament at the Palestra (TBA)
Bold denotes home games
* – denotes Ivy League games