Syracuse and Connecticut are scheduled to play at the XL Center in Hartford on Wednesday night, but a snow storm may threaten the game.

The area is supposed to be blanketed with snow and ice once again.

"Typically, once the teams and officials are on site, the game is played," UConn spokesman Kyle Muncy said in a statement.

"But, obviously, we are always in consultation with state and local officials in anything that relates to public safety, such as travel during inclement weather. It is almost always a decision that would get made the day of the game, so we would just encourage fans to stay tuned for updates, either at UConnHuskies.com or through the media. We understand that our fans are anxious about getting word and will do our best to keep them informed of any updates."

It's also National Signing Day and the Huskies plan to have a pre-game social hour with football coach Paul Pasqualoni in the Exhibition Hall.

As long as the basketball game is played, the football event will go on.

"The only reason we'd cancel it is if basketball is not on," said UConn associate director of athletics Mike Enright. "Because it's in the XL Center, the plan is to get people at the basketball game to see the football event. We wouldn't cancel the football event if the basketball game is on."

Marquette handed No. 9 Syracuse their fourth straight loss on Saturday afternoon.

Jae Crowder scored 13 of his 25 points in the second half to lead the Golden Eagles to a 76-70 victory.

The Orange have lost four in a row for the first time since Jan. 16-29, 2006.

Syracuse had won five straight over Marquette since it joined the conference in 2005 and held a 7-2 all-time record coming into the game.

Syracuse has lost three-straight games after opening the season with 18 wins.

Their latest lost came at home, a 22-point defeat at the hands of Seton Hall (9-12).

The Orangemen have struggled defensively, but coach Jim Boeheim doesn't plan to abandon his zone defense.

“We cannot play man-to-man,” he said. “We have to play zone. We have to work on our defense. It is our defense. Most teams have a dominant defense and that’s the one they use. That’s our defense. We’ve got to do a better job with it.”

While Ohio State maintained the top slot in RealGM's college basketball rankings for the week of January 24th, Pittsburgh moved up to the second slot with their win over the previously undefeated Syracuse.

1. Ohio State
2. Pitt
3. Duke
4. San Diego State
5. Connecticut
6. Texas
7. Kansas
8. Brigham Young
9. Missouri
10. Villanova
11. Texas A&M
12. Syracuse
13. Purdue
14. Washington
15. Wisconsin
16. Notre Dame
17. Kentucky
18. Minnesota
19. Louisville
20. Georgetown
21. Illinois
22. Vanderbilt
23. Florida
24. Utah State
25. Michigan State

• Click here to view college rankings from the AP, Coaches and RealGM.

No. 7 Villanova topped No. 3 Syracuse at the Carrier Dome on Saturday afternoon.

Maalik Wayns scored 17 of his 21 points in the first half of the Wildcats' 83-72 victory.

Syracuse had won 16 straight at the Carrier Dome dating to last February, but disappointed a season-high crowd of 33,736, second-largest in the building's history.

Kris Joseph practiced with his Syracuse teammates on Thursday and the school has listed him as day-to-day.

Joseph banged his head on the Carrier Dome floor last Saturday when the Orange played Cincinnati.

Syracuse will face Villanova on Saturday.

The crowd for Saturday's game between No. 7 Villanova and No. 3 Syracuse could break the NCAA attendance record that the pair set just last year.

Syracuse officials said Wednesday that more than 33,000 tickets had been sold for the game.

Last February's game between the teams drew 34,616, an NCAA record for the largest on-campus crowd to see a college basketball game.

No. 4 Pittsburgh jumped out to an early lead and outlasted No. 3 Syracuse on Monday night.

The Panthers raced out to a 19-0 lead before winning 74-66.

"It was a strange game," coach Jamie Dixon said of the game, in which Pittsburgh needed a second run to win.

Brad Wanamaker added 15 points to help the Panthers (18-1) improve to 6-0 in the Big East for the first time.

Pittsburgh gave Syracuse its first loss of the 10-11 season on Monday, with a 74-66 win at Petersen Events Center.

Jim Boeheim said this year’s Pittsburgh team might be the best Pitt team he’s seen.

“They’re a tremendous basketball team,’’ Boeheim said. “To me, it’s one of the best teams if not the best team we’ve played against here. They’ve got a lot of weapons and senior leadership.’’

Kris Joseph will not play for Syracuse against Pitt on Monday, reports Seth Davis.

Joseph is dealing with a concussion, but should be OK for the team's game against Villanova on Jan. 22.