For the 11th time in the event’s history, Boeheim’s Army, a team comprised of a mix of former Syracuse basketball players and non-SU alums, will compete in the The Basketball Tournament (TBT), which kicked off this past weekend.
While the team’s name is inspired by former head coach Jim Boeheim, the roster will not be coached by the Hall of Famer. Instead, this year’s squad will be led by Thomas Bridges.
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Syracuse will begin its tournament run on Tuesday night against the Seton Hall alumni. Here’s what you need to know in advance of the event.
Bridges will try to lead Boeheim’s Army to a second championship in the history of the event. Last season, Bridges was an assistant on the Long Island Nets, a team that competes in the NBA’s G-League.
After having 61 teams in 2025, ‘TBT’ will feature only 16 teams, with eight alumni teams and eight non-alumni teams competing on two separate sides of a bracket.
The alumni bracket will take place on college campuses across the country.
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The eight alumni teams will be matched up in best-of-three series, while the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship will be single-elimination.
The top alumni team will take on the top non-alumni team for the $2 million prize.
This year’s roster includes former Orange basketball players Eric Devendorf, Wes Johnson, Elijah Hughes, Buddy and Jimmy Boeheim and Cole Swider. The roster also includes Tyson Walker, JaCorey Williams, Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu and Ty Nichols. This year the alumni division allows a maximum of four players who did not play at each respective school to join the roster.
Syracuse will play the Seton Hall alumni team in the first round, best-of-three, with Game 1 being held in the Walsh Gymnasium, home of the Pirates, on Tuesday.
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The following two games will be held in Syracuse at the OnCenter War Memorial. Game 2 is scheduled for Thursday while Game 3 is Friday, if necessary.
If Syracuse wins the series, it will advance to take on the Kentucky-Louisville alumni matchup winner. The game between Syracuse and Kentucky-Louisville would be a single elimination held on Sunday.
Former Syracuse student and popular ‘Pardon My Take’ alum Jake Marsh will be on the call for the Syracuse TBT games. In addition to working on the podcast, he’s been a voice of several college basketball and football contests over the last several years. He previously was the play-by-play voice at the University of Vermont.
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