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Syracuse guard Brandon Triche drives the ball down court against St. John's Paris Horne during a 2012 Big East Tournament game at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

(Photo by Dennis Nett / The Post-Standard)

Syracuse and St. John's have agreed to a home-and-home series in men's basketball over the next two years.

The announcement means the two long-time Big East rivals will continue to play each other for at least the next two years as Syracuse leaves the conference to join the ACC after the current season.

“There are traditional series that are very important to us that go beyond conference affiliations,” Daryl Gross, the director of athletics at Syracuse, said in a release “One of those is St John’s, which has an obvious place in Syracuse basketball history. As we continue to aggressively secure rivalries that are dear to us, we are pleased to announce the continuation of this great series between two outstanding universities.”

Next season, Syracuse will play St. John's at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 14, 2013. The following year, St. John's will play Syracuse at the Carrier Dome. There's no date set yet for the game at the Dome in the 2014-15 season.

Syracuse and St. John's were charter members of the Big East. Syracuse leads the all-time series 49 to 37. The two schools met for the first time in the 1911-12 season.

“The St. John's-Syracuse rivalry is one of the classic matchups in college basketball. Generations of our fans have looked forward to this battle each year and we are thrilled that the two programs will continue to play the next two seasons,” said St. John's athletic driector Chris Monasch.

Syracuse and St. John's will play their final regular season game as Big East members on Feb. 10 at the Carrier Dome. It's the only regularly scheduled game between the two schools this season.

“St. John’s and Syracuse are two of the storied programs in NCAA history, both with top 10 numbers in overall victories and winning percentage. The Johnnies and ‘Cuse rivalry is now more than a century old and deserves to continue,” said St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin. “We are pleased to extend the series, with a date set for our home court at Madison Square Garden next season, and a 2014-15 meeting at the Carrier Dome, two of the great venues in college basketball.”

Syracuse and St. John’s met in one of the most memorable Big East Tournament games ever back in 1986. In that year's championship game, Syracuse's Pearl Washington went the length of the court only to have his game-winning shot blocked by St. John's forward Walter Berry. St. John's won the game 70-69.

“The rivalry with St. John’s has been one of the strongest for our program,” said Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim. “We had some great games when I was in school and the series continued to grow with Coach (Lou) Carnesecca at St. John’s right up to today with Coach Lavin.”

“Playing in Madison Square Garden is always a special event for Syracuse and for our fans in New York City,” continued Boeheim. “It will be great that our fans in Central New York will have the chance to see St. John’s in the Dome the following year.”