Syracuse is already a rival to Pitt.
No, it is not on the same level as Ohio State-Michigan or Duke-North Carolina, but the lengthy history between the Panthers and the Orange is only rivaled -- and overtaken -- by the Backyard Brawl, at least as far as basketball is concerned within Pitt's history.
When the Orange and Panthers tip off at 5 p.m. Saturday inside the Petersen Events Center, the Oakland Zoo and the sold-out crowd certainly will not forget about Jim Boeheim's comments from a couple of weeks ago about how Jeff Capel allegedly bought -- but, didn't, after Boeheim thrice walked his comment back -- his current team through means of NIL.
That's bulletin-board material for the fans. On the floor, it will be all business, and all about taking care of it.
That does not mean Capel and his team are aware of what is likely the highest-anticipated home game of his tenure.
"Probably," Capel said Thursday at the Petersen Events Center. "I think it's probably highly anticipated any time North Carolina comes here or Duke comes here. But, certainly, this game and against this opponent, specifically, because of the rivalry from the old Big East, the original Big East. There are a lot of layers to that. And, so, I would probably say yes."
The Panthers and Orange have met 109 times since the 1949-'50 season, which is second to West Virginia's 119 meetings. Syracuse and West Virginia are the only two schools which Pitt has met more than 100 times, with the 76 meetings against Penn State checking as the third-most-frequented opponent since.
Syracuse has the upper-hand historically, predictably so given its pedigree as a blue-blood program under many glory years behind Boeheim, including a 2003 National Championship with Carmelo Anthony leading the way. The Orange lead the series 65-44, but Pitt has had the upper-hand over the Central New York rival in recent memory.
Capel is 4-6 against the Orange as Pitt's coach, but is 4-1 in the last five meetings, including an 84-82 win at Syracuse Dec. 20.
Pitt, clearly, is a much improved team from that stage. Since that date, the Panthers are 12-4.
"I think we are more confident," Capel said. "I think guys understand what we need to do at a higher level to be good, to understand when we're at our best, what we're doing, to be able to get out of things maybe a little bit quicker if we're not playing well, maybe to get out of it a little bit quicker. I think those, and I think some guys individually are better. It was so long ago when we played them. Normally in the past when we've played them the back-to-backs have been a little bit quicker. This has been a while."
But, as Pitt has changed, so has Syracuse.
I think they're different," Capel added. "It'll be a great game."
There is the brief history lesson. On to what matters.
For Pitt, it is about more of the same. The bulletin-board material comes from the fact that writers -- myself included -- voted the Panthers to finish 14th in the preseason ACC poll, and proving all of us naysayers wrong.
That is just intrinsic motivation, as anybody else would feel, but one cannot help but to recognize this history on the line in the short- and the long-term.
"I think the biggest challenge is desperation," Nelly Cummings said. "I think at this time of the year every team is in different situations. They're a desperate team, and we have to come out and play with that same level of desperation, or more."
Cummings has absolutely shredded the Orange in his two games of facing them while at Colgate and with Pitt. Cummings has played 75 minutes, scored 40 points, made 13 of 30 (43.3%) from the field, sunk 12 of 24 (50%) 3-pointers, passed off 13 assists, and turned it over three times.
"I think we shared the ball well, we found holes in the zone, and we made shots," Cummings said of the December meeting. "I think that's what you've got to do against Syracuse. You've got to make shots."
Nelly Cummings in two career games at Syracuse (w/ Colgate last year, #Pitt this year):
— Corey Crisan (@cdcrisan) December 21, 2022
75 minutes, 40 points, 13-30 FG (43.3%), 12-24 3pt (50%), 13 assists, 3 turnovers.
His thoughts, modestly put: pic.twitter.com/vjr3trZmP3
Cummings is going to be the player to watch Saturday, for Senior Day reasons -- more on that below -- and because of his dominance against the Orange, a rivalry he grew more accustomed to while playing at Colgate, which is located not far from Syracuse in Hamilton, N.Y.
"It's actually unique for me because at Colgate it's kind of like a rivalry with Syracuse, as well," Cummings said. "Coming back here I didn't know that it was this big of a rivalry, but we sold out the crowd already, so I think the fans and everybody else knows what we know, that this is a really important game."
Syracuse can play a major spoiler to Pitt's ACC seeding and NCAA Tournament hopes by handing the Panthers their second loss in three games. Two of the last five meetings between the Panthers and Orange have been settled by three or fewer points, including the most recent one in December, and Pitt won both of those.
This Orange team is nowhere near sniffing the NCAA Tournament like Pitt is. (It will be the first time in more than 50 years in which the Orange miss the postseason in back-to-back years. Their most likely outcome is the NIT, if anything.) There is a "house money" quotient to consider, especially with Boeheim in his twilight days as the Orange's head coach, though unlikely by this point to retire at season's end. A spoiler to Pitt's resume -- and shutting down what will be a filled-up Petersen Events Center -- would be one heck of a parting gift from a middling Orange team.
"The zone, their length, their athleticism in it, those guys up top, especially (Judah) Mintz getting steals and things like that," Capel said of the challenges brought by Syracuse. "Offensively, (Joe Girard III), Judah Mintz, (Jesse) Edwards, those guys. I think (Chris) Bell is playing a lot better from when we played them the first time. We have to rebound the basketball better. I think Judah's not a freshman anymore. He's having an outstanding freshman season. One of the big differences, the last two games he's 6-for-6 from 3. That's a little scary, because that's something you can kind of slack off from a little bit. Now with the way he's shot the ball in the last two games, you have to maybe get up to him a little bit more, and that opens up where -- he's already terrific as a driver. They're a really good team, obviously have a very good coach, a Hall of Fame guy, one of the best guys to have ever done it."
For Pitt's sake, each of these final three games to close the regular season is must-win if it wants at least a share of the ACC regular-season title. Neither of the three will be easy: Syracuse for reasons mentioned, at Notre Dame in Mike Brey's final home game as the Fighting Irish coach, and at Miami for the sheer stakes of the regular season title potentially being on the line.
"I'm really excited about us being in the situation that we're in," Cummings said.
Pitt has to win these next two games to give itself a chance at playing for the No. 1 seed and a share of the ACC regular season championship March 4 at Miami.
What has made this group work? We have discussed it at many points, and Blake Hinson chimed in with his perspective as one of the new guys to come in this season.
"The will to win and do something special, something different," Hinson said. "I don't want to say different -- different's a bad word -- but just do something special pertaining to winning, and I think everybody's been on the same exact wavelength as far as that feeling. I think that's what made us mesh although we're new."
A win Saturday would be a feather in the cap for the seniors playing one last time on the Petersen Events Center floor. Cummings, Jamarius Burton, Greg Elliott, Nike Sibande, and Aidan Fisch are all in their respective final seasons of eligibility. Capel said Saturday "probably will be a very emotional day for me" for that reason.
It will definitely be emotional for Cummings, the Midland, Pa., native who said it will feel like "thousands" of his family and friends will be in the crowd for Senior Day.
"We've been so locked in and so focused on our opportunities we have in front of us that I haven't thought of it like that yet," Cummings said. "But, now that it's really here, this is my last game at The Pete. ... It is what it is. I'm ready for everything that's coming forward. We've done a lot of good stuff here at The Pete, so I'm happy that we made it this far. Looking forward to the game Saturday."
Added Capel: "It's huge. I mean, these guys have been unbelievable. You take Fisch and Nike, who have been here the longest and what those guys have endured and been through. Fisch being a walk-on -- a manager first -- and then earning his spot as a walk-on, and his voice is really important for us, and he's earned that. Everyone knows what an unbelievable teammate he is. Then Nike, what he went through his first year here having to sit the first however-many games it was, becoming eligible 56 minutes before we played at Miami, and then during that year, the next year, tearing his ACL and sitting out and what he's meant to us and done this year. For Jamarius, him being the second year and what he's endured, what he's gone through, and what he's fought and persevered. And then you've got the new seniors or the graduates with Nelly and with Greg and just how the things they've brought to this program. Great teammates, winning, positivity, experience, leadership, all of those things. All five of those guys, to me, embody all of that, and they've meant a lot to our program.
"I hope that people look at them as guys that came in, that were unbelievable teammates, that fought and persevered, that believed in this place, believed in what they could do to help change it, believe in what we could do, and that were a big part of that."
Cummings was asked how he wants this senior class to be remembered.
"Champions."