Saying that Syracuse University's located in Canada is a source of never-ending joy for the master comedians at Georgetown. As if to take away what little power that joke has, Jim Boeheim has decided to take the Syracuse Orange north of the border this summer:

SU coach Jim Boeheim said his Orange team will play four or five games in Montreal and Ottawa over a seven-day period in mid-August. "It's pretty much finalized," he said in a telephone conversation this morning.

We're going to the Capital of Canada!

As you might remember, the original plan was to go to Italy. Timing and scheduling is the official reason Syracuse couldn't do it, though I love to think that the only reason we're not going to Italy is because Jim Boeheim thinks Italian food is "weird."

It's great timing for Syracuse to do a trip like this. With five incoming freshman and transfer Michael Gbinije joining the roster, this is a squad that's going to need plenty of time playing together. Since the Orange are jumping right into the fire with the Maui Invitational, they'll need as much preseason work as possible.

Don't think there isn't a great opportunity for some advanced scouting here as well. SU has a decent history of recruiting Canadian players (Andy Rautins, Kris Joseph & Tyler Ennis to name a few), so keeping ourselves top of mind for Canada's premiere talent is a good thing.

Update: Looks like Syracuse will play at least one game against Bishop University, according to its head coach.