Tomorrow is a historic day. One of the finest college basketball rivalries—Syracuse and Georgetown—meets for the 100th time. While the game has lost some of its zing from the past, it still means a lot. The Dome will likely be packed. Most importantly, it feels like a must-win for Adrian Autry.
Now I’m not going to go as far as a lot of people have in calling for Autry’s job. He’s proven to be an incredible recruiter. He led the Orange to the 20-win mark in his first season. And despite a rocky start, it’s still very early in the season.
But despite all of that, Autry needs a victory tomorrow to prove he has control of this team and is heading in the right direction. The Orange have won by double digits against struggling Georgetown teams the past two years. But, it seemed like both teams were set to pick up in skill this year.
The Hoyas have. Forward Thomas Sorber is a dominant freshman and has his squad off to a 7-2 start. There were high hopes for SU as well. But that hasn’t paid off just yet. The Orange are 5-4, with no convincing wins yet. The two teams are on opposite projections at the moment.
So why is this game in particular so important for Autry? Well first off, it does mean a little bit more. Georgetown vs. Syracuse is always circled on fans’ calendars, and Autry himself played in the rivalry. Fans will forget a blowout loss to Tennessee or close losses to Texas and Texas Tech. They’ll even get over narrow wins over teams like Le Moyne and Youngstown State.
But a blowout loss to Georgetown in a historical game? That feels like something that wouldn’t be shaken from minds anytime soon.
This also may be SU’s last chance for a semi-decent non-conference win. Maryland is a top-20 KenPom team, so the odds don’t look great in that one. And a win over Bucknell won’t mean much. Having a singular good non-conference win on SU’s resume seems important.
Hopefully, Autry has stayed off social media lately. There have been some brutal takes on his coaching decisions (some deserved, some not so much). But a convincing win tomorrow would set it straight that his game plan works.
Would a loss to Georgetown end Autry’s career? No. But it might end the fanbase’s confidence in him. And at such a storied program like Syracuse, that feels like the beginning of the end.
