Big Week coming up

[OrlandoCuse]

Our next 3 games over the course of the next week are huge for our Big East title hopes. We go to ND, then Cinci and follow that up with a game vs WVU. Sweep those games and we will have a minimum of a 2 game lead with 8 games remaining. That will be difficult to overcome for our pursuers.

Also, keep an eye on the Cinci @ WVU game this weekend. That looks like it will have major implications for the BE race.

 

[Marsh01]

Our next 3 games over the course of the next week are huge for our Big East title hopes. We go to ND, then Cinci and follow that up with a game vs WVU. Sweep those games and we will have a minimum of a 2 game lead with 8 games remaining. That will be difficult to overcome for our pursuers.

Also, keep an eye on the Cinci @ WVU game this weekend. That looks like it will have major implications for the BE race.

Dont sleep on west Virginia this weekend. It will be a great couple of days this weekend.

 

[jdubs30]

We need WVU to handle UC on Saturday.

 

[moqui]

Our next 3 games over the course of the next week are huge for our Big East title hopes. We go to ND, then Cinci and follow that up with a game vs WVU. Sweep those games and we will have a minimum of a 2 game lead with 8 games remaining. That will be difficult to overcome for our pursuers.

Also, keep an eye on the Cinci @ WVU game this weekend. That looks like it will have major implications for the BE race.

agree completely . . .

• that ND game is going to be tough . . . they play very well at home
• Saturday/Monday turnarounds are historically difficult for the Orange, especially when they are on the road
• and I think that WVU is the 2nd best team in the conference

 

[General20]

Lots of good points brought up in this thread. This is a big stretch we have coming up. If we win our next 3 games we probably lock up the Big East title as early in the season as any team has ever locked it up.

I'd actually be surprised if we go all three without a loss though.

Why we might lose:

ND has only lost 1 game at their place in the last 2 years. Their arena will probably be the toughest venue we play in all year and they will be revved up to beat us.

Then we have to go to Cinci. Its not easy on college kids to travel to ND then travel to Cinci the day later and play with only one day in between. Both teams are going to be very physical with us and try to wear us down. Cinci, on the back half of this trip, is a good team who we will not have any practice time for. They are going to put 4 guards on the floor against us and throw up a lot of threes. They have been red hot from behind the arc lately, and if they do miss they will have big Yancy Gates down low pounding the boards.

Finally we have West Virginia who may match up with us better than any other Big East team. They shoot a lot of threes, are a fantastic rebounding team, and play tough D. If they get hot from the outside and we dont, we will lose that game.

Why we might win:

After beating Pitt we have an entire week to get ready for our next stretch of games. Our guys know they have to step it up to win these games, our guys have proven they have the ability to step up their level of play when needed. If we are hitting 3's I dont think anybody is good enough to beat us. Ultimately the outcome is in Syracuse's control.

First we are going to go to ND, who is simply not as good as us, and does not really pose any match up problems.

Then we have to go to Cinci with only a day to travel/prepare. But they also will have only a day to travel/prepare. They have not played well against our zone historically, and with no practice time they may be turnover prone. As we know, turnovers against Syracuse lead to losses.

Then we have another week to rest our wounds and regather ourselves for West Virginia. We will be ready for everything they have to throw at us. We are the better team. We are at home. We will win.

No matter how things turn out, I expect this to be the best three game stretch of the season so far. I am looking forward to it.

 

[jordoo]

Huge stretch. I agree with General20's perspective except I thinkwe handle ND with no issues. Cince is the game I worry about especially if they can hit three's on us and be effective on the offensive glass. Although our zone fits nicely against their smaller line up, so that we can stay big and exploit them when we have the ball. IF we win Sat and Mon I think a week to prepare for WVU will be enough.

 

[SU2NASA]

Our next 3 games over the course of the next week are huge for our Big East title hopes. We go to ND, then Cinci and follow that up with a game vs WVU. Sweep those games and we will have a minimum of a 2 game lead with 8 games remaining. That will be difficult to overcome for our pursuers.

Also, keep an eye on the Cinci @ WVU game this weekend. That looks like it will have major implications for the BE race.

If we win those games, we'll still hear how we haven't beaten anyone.

 

[pfister1]

This three day stretch will be a big test for us. The majority of the in-conference heavy lifting is still ahead of us, while Cincy has some of theirs behind them already.

If we are as good as we've looked so far I think we dispose of N.D. without a problem. They typically play a style that does not give us a lot of problems and we have done really well at their place historically since they joined the conference in 95-96. We are 9-3 at their place over that time period. If we have trouble at Notre Dame, I am going to be a bit worried about where we are headed from there.

 

[SoBeCuse]

It's going to be crazy @Cincy. Could be the most fired up crowd ever down there, including the KMart/Van Exel days . They are calling for a complete whiteout which I don't think has been done down there. The Orange fans should really stick out. I'll be one of them!

 

[Orangello]

Our next 3 games over the course of the next week are huge for our Big East title hopes. We go to ND, then Cinci and follow that up with a game vs WVU. Sweep those games and we will have a minimum of a 2 game lead with 8 games remaining. That will be difficult to overcome for our pursuers.

Also, keep an eye on the Cinci @ WVU game this weekend. That looks like it will have major implications for the BE race.

Not liking that Cincy game on Monday. They killed the Connmen on the boards last night. Lots of hustle in that team.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I don't want to downplay the competition or schedule format, but the only one that scares me even just a little bit is Cincinnati. I think ND won't really challenge us, and I think WFVU will be competitive but won't outlast us.

 

[SU2NASA]

It's going to be crazy @Cincy. Could be the most fired up crowd ever down there, including the KMart/Van Exel days . They are calling for a complete whiteout which I don't think has been done down there. The Orange fans should really stick out. I'll be one of them!

The Winnipeg Jets called, they want their idea back.

 

[OttoMets]

The travel situation isn't great; Cincinnati will have landed before we even start the second half in South Bend. Monday's going to be very difficult. This reminds me a bit of the WVU/Notre Dame turnaround two years ago (though that was a bit better travelwise - I think the WVU game was a nooner).

It's been so long since West Virginia has beaten us, and a lot of people wrote them off early this year. They're due, but it's good that we have a long practice week before that.

If we get through these three unscathed, it'll be a tremendous accomplishment.

 

[mark79]

Lots of good points brought up in this thread. This is a big stretch we have coming up. If we win our next 3 games we probably lock up the Big East title as early in the season as any team has ever locked it up.

I'd actually be surprised if we go all three without a loss though.

Why we might lose:

ND has only lost 1 game at their place in the last 2 years. Their arena will probably be the toughest venue we play in all year and they will be revved up to beat us.

Then we have to go to Cinci. Its not easy on college kids to travel to ND then travel to Cinci the day later and play with only one day in between. Both teams are going to be very physical with us and try to wear us down. Cinci, on the back half of this trip, is a good team who we will not have any practice time for. They are going to put 4 guards on the floor against us and throw up a lot of threes. They have been red hot from behind the arc lately, and if they do miss they will have big Yancy Gates down low pounding the boards.

Finally we have West Virginia who may match up with us better than any other Big East team. They shoot a lot of threes, are a fantastic rebounding team, and play tough D. If they get hot from the outside and we dont, we will lose that game.

Why we might win:

After beating Pitt we have an entire week to get ready for our next stretch of games. Our guys know they have to step it up to win these games, our guys have proven they have the ability to step up their level of play when needed. If we are hitting 3's I dont think anybody is good enough to beat us. Ultimately the outcome is in Syracuse's control.

First we are going to go to ND, who is simply not as good as us, and does not really pose any match up problems.

Then we have to go to Cinci with only a day to travel/prepare. But they also will have only a day to travel/prepare. They have not played well against our zone historically, and with no practice time they may be turnover prone. As we know, turnovers against Syracuse lead to losses.

Then we have another week to rest our wounds and regather ourselves for West Virginia. We will be ready for everything they have to throw at us. We are the better team. We are at home. We will win.

No matter how things turn out, I expect this to be the best three game stretch of the season so far. I am looking forward to it.

Excellent post