Syracuse, N.Y. -- Boeheim’s Army will play India Rising in its opening game of the 2022 The Basketball Tournament, organizers announced today.
The defending TBT champions are the Syracuse Regional’s top seed. Eighth-seeded India Rising, a collection of players of Indian descent, will make its TBT debut at Onondaga Community College’s SRC Arena, where the games will be played next month.
Boeheim’s Army meets India Rising in a marquee 7 p.m. matchup on Friday, July 22. It’s the final game of the first day of competition.
The Syracuse Regional seed list looks like this:
1) Boeheim’s Army (Syracuse alums)
2) Blue Collar U (Buffalo alums)
3) Friday Beers (formerly Armored Athlete)
5) Brown & White (St. Bonaventure alums)
7) NG Saints (Neumann-Goretti High School alums)
8) India Rising
If Boeheim’s Army advances to the second round, it will face the winner of No. 4 The Nerd Team and No. 5 Brown & White on July 23 at 2 p.m. The Syracuse Regional championship game will be played July 25 at 7 p.m.
The most interesting potential matchup in the Syracuse bracket would pit Boeheim’s Army against the NG Saints. That Philadelphia-based group of Neumann-Goretti High School stars features former SU players Scoop Jardine and Rick Jackson. But the game won’t happen unless both teams reach the regional final.
Syracuse native Denzel Gregg will be a player/coach for St. Bonaventure’s Brown & White alumni team. Gregg is an assistant academic coordinator for the Syracuse University athletic program and will soon head to law school.
Tickets for the Syracuse regional are already on sale. The games will be broadcast across the ESPN family of networks. Specific channels will be announced during the week of the games.
The Syracuse Regional Schedule:
First Round, Friday, July 22
Game 1: (3) Friday Beers vs. (6) Mental Toughness, noon
Game 2: (2) Blue Collar U vs. (7) NG Saints, 2 p.m.
Game 3: (4) The Nerd Team vs. (5) Brown & White, 5 p.m.
Game 4: (1) Boeheim’s Army vs. (8) India Rising, 7 p.m.
Second Round, Saturday, July 23
Game 5: Friday Beers/Mental Toughness vs. Blue Collar U/NG Saints, noon
Game 6: Boeheim’s Army/India Rising vs. The Nerd Team/Brown & White, 2 p.m.
Syracuse Regional Championship, Monday, July 25
Game 7: Winner of Game 5 vs. Game 6, 7 p.m.
The winner of the Syracuse Regional advances to Dayton, Ohio for Championship Week. Quarterfinals games will be played July 28-29, followed by the semifinals July 30. The $1 million winner-take-all championship game is on Aug. 2.
Boeheim’s Army won the $1 million TBT money last year and returns a few pieces of that team this summer.
C.J. Fair and Andrew White were part of last year’s title team. So were Deandre Kane and D.J. Kennedy. This summer, Boeheim’s Army will also include former SU players Rakeem Christmas, Tyler Ennis and Marek Dolezaj. Kyle Wiltjer and Dee Bost round out the roster, though the team could (and will likely) add players up to 72 hours before its first game.
Jeremy Pope returns as the team’s head coach; Ryan Blackwell will assist him. And Eric Devendorf -- Boeheim’s Army’s best player since the team originated eight years ago -- will transition to coach/advisor on this year’s squad.
Adam Weitsman enters his second year as the team’s chairman and chief procurer of talent. Kevin Belbey returns as general manager and will be assisted by his brother, Shaun, the former SU guard.
The team expects to hold a training camp in Syracuse in the days leading up to its first game.
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