Syracuse, N.Y. - Gerry McNamara wants to rekindle two longstanding basketball relationships that were abruptly ended last season.
Syracuse did not play neighboring Colgate or Cornell in 2025-26. Those two programs, each located within an hour of the JMA Wireless Dome, had played a combined 304 games against the Orange. Cornell first met SU in 1901. Colgate’s first date with the Orange reaches to 1902.
McNamara said he wants to get both programs back on his schedule for 2026-27.
“Those are two really good programs at the mid-major level that are gonna have a hard time finding games,” McNamara said. “It’s important for their survival that they get the right ones. And Syracuse, Colgate, Cornell just makes sense.”
Syracuse dropped those games last year because both programs were ultimately too competitive for the Orange. Cornell and Colgate had been fairly easy wins over the decades, but no longer. Colgate beat SU twice in the last few years. Cornell stayed close.
With metrics helping to determine whether a program deserved a post-season NCAA Tournament bid, SU coaches decided to eliminate those games in an effort to boost their resume.
McNamara’s Siena teams played Cornell in 2024-25 and played Colgate last season. McNamara and Colgate coach Matt Langel are good friends. Their paths often intersected when their children were playing sports in the Syracuse suburbs.
SU has already sent out a few dates for Colgate to consider. Cornell, too, will get a few options.
“I told my guys at Siena I want to schedule these games because these are the programs that you should aspire to become,” McNamara said. “Not just the programs that are good.”
