For the first time in more than 40 years, men’s basketball will host the Georgetown University Hoyas this fall, GW Athletics announced Wednesday in a release.
The cross-town Hoyas exhibition game, scheduled at the Smith Center for Oct. 18, will come two weekends before the start of the 2025-26 season, marking an opportunity for a more game-like practice experience for players and a chance for fans to see two of D.C.’s premier teams in action. GW has already started to fill out its nonconference schedule, with a game against University of South Florida scheduled in November in Connecticut and a game against the reigning NCAA champions, University of Florida, on the docket for mid-December in Florida.
An opportunity to face off against Georgetown has long been a white whale for GW fans, with the last matchup between the two teams taking place in December of 1981 — a 61-48 GW loss at the Capital Center. Prior to that, the two teams faced off often, with 89 games between the schools dating back to 1907.
Revs fans and D.C. locals flocked to social media channels to showcase their excitement, with some stating they’ve “never been more excited for a game” while others posted that they’re looking forward to reviving the “delicious chant” of ‘what the hell’s a Hoya?’
The release highlights college basketball analytics cite Bart Torvik’s current T-ranks of both teams, with GW’s spot over Georgetown after the completion of this offseason.
“GW is currently ranked 60th in preseason projections by Bart Torvik, slightly ahead of Georgetown at 71,” the release states.
This offseason, after the team’s best season in nearly a decade with a 21-13 overall record, GW made splashes in the transfer portal with the addition of several notable players, including former Duquesne guard Tre Dinkins and former Western Kentucky University forward Tyrone Marshall Jr.
The team also retained forward Rafael Castro, who led the Revs in scoring and rebounding in 2024-25, and will welcome back guard-forward Garrett Johnson, who impressed in his freshman year averaging 13.4 points per game and shooting over 40% from 3-point territory before missing last season nursing a torn ACL.
With a storied history that includes five Final Four appearances from 1943 through 2007, Georgetown has long held a reputation as one of the top men’s basketball programs in the country. However, the team has fallen on hard times in recent years, with only one NCAA tournament appearance since 2014-15 as the program attempted rebuilds under two different head coaches.
The Revs’ scheduled games against USF and Florida pit the team against two highly rated opponents after a season in which their nonconference strength of schedule ranked 362 out of 364 Division I teams last year, per the college basketball analytics website KenPom.
Leading up to last season, Head Coach Chris Caputo said in September that he was hoping to create a schedule that gave his team at least an 80 percent nonconference win percentage and wanted to ensure that the schedule, especially considering home-and-home matchups, didn’t send his team on the road too often.
“You gotta have home games,” Caputo said at the time. “You gotta have a percentage of those games played at home. Because that’s the best chance to get you to 80 percent is to play more home games.”
The Revs would go on to win 85 percent of their nonconference games last season but went .500 against A-10 opponents.
Neutral court matchups against Florida and South Florida, who have Torvik rankings of fifth and 63rd, respectively, ensure GW will have a significantly tougher schedule, especially when the team has more serious expectations to compete in the A-10.
Athletics also announced on Tuesday return matchups for last year’s home-and-homes against American and Old Dominion universities, with the two traveling to the Smith Center on Nov. 12 and 15, respectively.
The Revs lost at American in last December but defeated ODU just a few days later.
The team will also play in the Cayman Island Classic multi-team event in November, with games scheduled against McNeese State University, Middle Tennessee University and Murray State University on the 23, 24 and 25, respectively.
More schedule updates will continue to be released throughout the summer, including details for games against A-10 opponents. GW Athletics announced the team’s last week, which includes two matchups with five opponents Loyola Chicago, Dayton, Richmond, La Salle and George Mason.
