As of today, our overall SOS is worse than Wichita State's | Syracusefan.com

As of today, our overall SOS is worse than Wichita State's

Eric15

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Per realtimerpi.com, our SOS is 73 and there's is 71.

Granted, we have 11 Top 100 wins (3 of which are Top 25) compared to their 6 Top 100 wins (1 of which is Top 25).
 
Baylor and St. John's tanking has killed our SOS along with Cornell not in the top 300 and Va.Tech not in the top 200
 
Per realtimerpi.com, our SOS is 73 and there's is 71.

Granted, we have 11 Top 100 wins (3 of which are Top 25) compared to their 6 Top 100 wins (1 of which is Top 25).
me worry.jpg
 
Relax;

Haven't many --- or at least some --- of our posters called this a "great" team.

And aren't we #2 in polls ... however unscientific they might be.

Nothing can go wrong, go wrong, go wrong, etc
 
Anyone know the breakdown of conference vs non-con SOS? In year's past we could count on conference play to boost sos. This year that doesn't seem to quite be the case.
 
The problem is playing 2 schools near the bottom of D1. Cornell #336, Binghamton #328. These are RPI killers.
 
Relax;

Haven't many --- or at least some --- of our posters called this a "great" team.

And aren't we #2 in polls ... however unscientific they might be.

Nothing can go wrong, go wrong, go wrong, etc

Kansas has 10 top 100 wins
Arizona - 8
Wisconsin - 9
Villanova - 9
Florida - 7
Wichita St - 6
UMass - 10
Mich. State - 8
Duke - 9
Creighton - 8
ISU - 7
Kentucky - 7
Michigan - 7
Oklahoma - 6


What's the point of your post? We are pretty battle tested. Once you get past the top 100 teams, they all kind of suck compared to the elite teams, so getting credit for beating 120 vs. 270 is sort of irrelevant.
 
Remaining schedule games that could go either way (splitting tough games like these is probable imo) :

@Wake
Duke
@Pitt
@Duke
@UVA
@FSU

We should win the other games on the schedule outright. But let's say we do split the above games and have one What loss (ND or Clemson).
That would leave us at 27-4 (14-4). What do we need to do in the ACCT for a 1 seed?
 
Kansas has 10 top 100 wins
Arizona - 8
Wisconsin - 9
Villanova - 9
Florida - 7
Wichita St - 6
UMass - 10
Mich. State - 8
Duke - 9
Creighton - 8
ISU - 7
Kentucky - 7
Michigan - 7
Oklahoma - 6


What's the point of your post? We are pretty battle tested. Once you get past the top 100 teams, they all kind of suck compared to the elite teams, so getting credit for beating 120 vs. 270 is sort of irrelevant.

I'm afraid I'm still something of a doubter based on watching all the games that have been televised.

I see this team as having flaws and as Boeheim said it's pretty "fragile".

I was poking fun at those who have called this a "Great" team and who seem to feel that being ranked #2 is the same as being the second best team.

There's a lot of justified anxiousness after watching Duke v. Pitt. There's a lot less chest-pounding going on.
 
Per realtimerpi.com, our SOS is 73 and there's is 71.

Granted, we have 11 Top 100 wins (3 of which are Top 25) compared to their 6 Top 100 wins (1 of which is Top 25).
after this week we will pass them and never look back
 
And we've played 0 good teams on the road. 0. St. Johns is the top RPI team SU has played on the road, with a RPI of 74. Syracuse has 6 more road games this year, all but one of which come against teams with a significantly better RPI than St. Johns (and the last, Maryland, is at 80, so basically equal.)

Message boards tend towards extreme, so we're tending towards the AWESOME SUPER GOOD extreme right now. There's certainly reason to worry that we might be over-rating things at least a tad. And when SU loses a game or two we'll head directly in the opposite direction. So it goes.
 
And we've played 0 good teams on the road. 0. St. Johns is the top RPI team SU has played on the road, with a RPI of 74. Syracuse has 6 more road games this year, all but one of which come against teams with a significantly better RPI than St. Johns (and the last, Maryland, is at 80, so basically equal.)

Message boards tend towards extreme, so we're tending towards the AWESOME SUPER GOOD extreme right now. There's certainly reason to worry that we might be over-rating things at least a tad. And when SU loses a game or two we'll head directly in the opposite direction. So it goes.

We're 19-0. If we can't trend toward "awesome super good" now, when can we? At this point, why would anyone who isn't a "realist" not think that this is a great team and be confident that we are in the midst of a great season?

Can the wheels fall off? Of course, but they haven't.
 
focus more on how this team is growing instead of the schedule...

Fair needs to prove he can be a go to isolation bakset guy every night, Cooney needs to try to get hot every night, Rak needs to start averaging 10ppg, Gbinije needs to prove he can start to score some, and hopefully one of our 3 freshmen can get going. Grant and Ennis need to keep being Grant and Ennis.
 
I'm afraid I'm still something of a doubter based on watching all the games that have been televised.

I see this team as having flaws and as Boeheim said it's pretty "fragile".

I was poking fun at those who have called this a "Great" team and who seem to feel that being ranked #2 is the same as being the second best team.

There's a lot of justified anxiousness after watching Duke v. Pitt. There's a lot less chest-pounding going on.
Out of curiosity, did you happen to notice or hear/read about the games Arizona had vs. Drexel, UNLV and earlier this week at home vs. Utah? Arizona, everyone everywhere proclaims, is the undisputed best team in the land.
Did you notice how Duke was blown out by Clemson the other week?
Did you notice how Kansas lost at home to Sand Diego St and at Colorado?
Did you notice how Wisconsin lost 3 games in a row?
Did you notice how Kentucky was thumped by the same Baylor team SU handled?

So, there apparently is no great team. I'm fine with that. I can say, without doubt, that Syracuse is amongst a group of 10 or so teams that have a legit chance of winning it all.
It's quite a service you're providing, though, to point out how inadequate our team is—not sure what we'd do without you. :)
 
focus more on how this team is growing instead of the schedule...

Fair needs to prove he can be a go to isolation bakset guy every night, Cooney needs to try to get hot every night, Rak needs to start averaging 10ppg, Gbinije needs to prove he can start to score some, and hopefully one of our 3 freshmen can get going. Grant and Ennis need to keep being Grant and Ennis.

I think Cooney played a perfect game for him going forward. 6 shots. None forced. A huge 3 at the end of the game. 3/6 from 3. Now I'd like him to drive to basket at least once a game when he sees an opportunity, but he isn't Tyler and I don't 100% trust his decision making.

If Rak could avg. 10 points we would be unstoppable. I love his new found aggression on offense though. I think JB can live with some of the ill advised stuff because he needs to be a weapon. And some of the "bad" shots are starting to go in so they're not really bad any more.

G took a bit of a step back against Miami, but overall his progression is trending up.

There is so much room for improvement with Grant, CJ taking care of the ball, Ennis looking for his shot more, Trevor driving, Rak being stronger offensively and G and Roberson improving.

19-0 and can get significantly better come mid March. This is exciting stuff even if we lose a few games (which we probably will).
 
We're 19-0. If we can't trend toward "awesome super good" now, when can we? At this point, why would anyone who isn't a "realist" not think that this is a great team and be confident that we are in the midst of a great season?

Can the wheels fall off? Of course, but they haven't.

I don't expect the wheels to come off. And I do think this team probably ends up a 1 seed, which means it has a great shot at the NC. Mostly, I think it is useful to be a little contrarian on both ends - more optimistic when the board wants to forcibly retire Jim Boeheim (which admittedly has been rare in the last several years) and a little more pessimistic when the board wants to book tickets for the Final 4.

Just as people were wrong to think a tough game against St. Francis meant this was the worst team since 2008, I think people are over-reading the 19-0. The team has been gutting out wins - which is impressive and exciting and a very good sign, long term - playing in front of mostly friendly crowds against mostly mediocre teams. It is clear, absolutely 100% clear, that Syracuse is one of the top 15 or so teams in the country. I think just given how backloaded the schedule is that it is hard to say definitively right now that Syracuse is one of the top 5 teams in the country. (Which is not to say the ranking isn't deserved; it is.)
 
I'm afraid I'm still something of a doubter based on watching all the games that have been televised.

I see this team as having flaws and as Boeheim said it's pretty "fragile".

I was poking fun at those who have called this a "Great" team and who seem to feel that being ranked #2 is the same as being the second best team.

There's a lot of justified anxiousness after watching Duke v. Pitt. There's a lot less chest-pounding going on.

Duke certainly played a heleva game last night, especially down the stretch. Remember though, at the under 8 minute t/o in the 2nd half, it was only a 2 possession game at 57-51. We were up 10 around the half way point against Pitt prior to Patterson going off against us...he was practically non-existent last night...
 
it is hard to say definitively right now that Syracuse is one of the top 5 teams in the country.
So, definitively, which are the top 5 teams in the country?
 
I don't expect the wheels to come off. And I do think this team probably ends up a 1 seed, which means it has a great shot at the NC. Mostly, I think it is useful to be a little contrarian on both ends - more optimistic when the board wants to forcibly retire Jim Boeheim (which admittedly has been rare in the last several years) and a little more pessimistic when the board wants to book tickets for the Final 4.

Just as people were wrong to think a tough game against St. Francis meant this was the worst team since 2008, I think people are over-reading the 19-0. The team has been gutting out wins - which is impressive and exciting and a very good sign, long term - playing in front of mostly friendly crowds against mostly mediocre teams. It is clear, absolutely 100% clear, that Syracuse is one of the top 15 or so teams in the country. I think just given how backloaded the schedule is that it is hard to say definitively right now that Syracuse is one of the top 5 teams in the country. (Which is not to say the ranking isn't deserved; it is.)

I look at it like this: the team has been gutting out wins while Cooney has been in an epic slump. When Conney is hot, like 5 or more 3's in a game hot - we aren't getting beat except by a season-best performance from whoever we're playing. I firmly believe that Cooney will come out of this slump. Beating Pitt is a sign that this team is good. Not becuase Pitt is good, but for whatever reason even our best teams have a hell of a time against those turds. Yeah, we'll lose a couple games. Winning at Pitt is nearly impossible for us of late and you can't expect to win at Cameron. But our biggest worry at this point is injury or scandal. We have had seasons ruined by both in this golden age we've been in and this year we are super thin.
 
So, definitively, which are the top 5 teams in the country?

Teams playing great right now are Michigan, Arizona, MSU (when healthy), Duke (the last few games) and Kansas. I think Michigan is going to crash down to earth soon enough and that Arizona is a tad overrated.

But over the last couple years, Syracuse has not been a free flowing offensive team. Plus, the defense makes other teams play well into the shot clock, thereby limiting possessions and lowering scores. So it is difficult to compare us to the other teams. I think we're 2nd behind Kansas and like our chances against anyone.
 
So, definitively, which are the top 5 teams in the country?

By the time March rolls around (in no particular order), I'll say Arizona, Michigan State, Kansas, Kentucky and Syracuse.
 
I'm tired of reading about how our wins are unimpressive, or how we've been getting lucky to win all the close games.

Being a good team in the final 5 minutes is not a coin flip. The law of averages does not kick in and even out the close ones. That's not the way it works.
Being tough down the stretch is what makes us an undefeated team. It is a quality, not luck, that most teams and coaches would give their left nut for.

It is about understanding time and situation and executing. Our defense has looked shaky at times, but has been absolutely awesome in the last 5 minutes of games. Ennis and CJ have been clutch - not with lucky shots, but rather the opposite - working hard for high percentage shots and executing. That's focus and understanding of score and situation. Yes - a team could get lucky and hit some shots in a close game down the stretch and beat us, but it will be because THEY did something extraordinary to overcome our superior execution. That is what it will take to be better than SU in the last 5 minutes of a close game - be extraordinary.

Sure it would be nice to win going away, but this team does not run - it executes in controlled fashion. I think we have great room for improvement, and I'd lean toward a trend of our winning games by larger margins than the opposite. We are most likely not going undefeated, but on just about every night from now until the end of the tourney, we will have the best team on the floor.
 

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