Syracuse maintaining Big East ties

I think my personal record for offending someone on a first date is about four minutes after picking her up, which is pretty much how the Syracuse to the ACC era began. Head coach Jim Boeheim started by comparing the Big East Tournament and the ACC Tournament: "It's a great place for a tournament," he told the Birmingham News of New York. "Where would you want to go to to a tournament for five days? Let's see: Greensboro, North Carolina, or New York City? Jeez. Let me think about that one and get back to you."

On the reasons for conference expansion, he said, "this audience knows why we are doing this. There's two reasons: Money and football."

And while both answers were honest (and right) he wasn't exactly walking the party line (which is why we should like him). He also reminisced about all the teams he's spent his career playing against. "We've played St. John's for the 50 years I've been at Syracuse, and Georgetown for 40, so yeah, there's some nostalgia there. There's some heartbreak, no question about it. But it is what it is. Things do change."

But even with the change, Syracuse fans who hate the move will at least get to keep playing some of those same teams. They already knew about a home and away with St. John's in the next couple of seasons, and now The Juice has confirmed that Syracuse and Villanova will play a unique home, away, neutral format over the next three years. They'll spend the next two seasons trading home games, and then finish in Madison Square Garden in 2015-16.

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