ESPN Debate...Syracuse or Baylor

[Orangeyes]

It is possible that throwing Baylor into the discussion we finally get rid of NC and KY and OSU as being the team. Some very interesting statististics that I feel do support either 'Cuse as #1 or Baylor #1(from ESPN Insider)

1. 'Cuse #1 RPI to Baylor #3
2. 'Cuse SOS #1 To Baylor #37
3. Top 50 wins: Baylor 7; 'Cuse 4
4. 'Cuse 5-0 Road and Neutral to Baylor 6-0
5. Bilas index which includes Kenpom and Sagarin statistics has 'Cuse #1 and Baylor #3
--'Cuse has 5 wins against Sagarin top 50
--Baylor has 6 wins against Sagarin top 50
What is really interesting is that neither Dougy or Katz spoke to the defensive strength of 'Cuse...
6. 'Cuse #1 in steals
7. 'Cuse # in blocked shot %
8. 'Cuse near top in TO # vs. Baylor turns over much higher
Most of us feel 'Cuse is better but the on court match-up will tell us...unfortunately college teams in all sports except baseball play 1 and done...so 'Cuse and Baylor would have to bring it for all or nothing...winner deemed the best...in such a case...'Cuse wins

How do we compare in the depth department ie, bench scoring

assist to TO margin

rebounding

fg%

3pt fg%

 

[marz09cuse]

My favorite part of that video is Dougie questioning who Syracuse's go-to-guy is, then follows that up by answering Katz's question on who Baylor's go-to-guy is by saying Jackson has shown signs of being able to break down a defense, therefor he is an offensive dude. I guess those orange-colored glasses that I wear show a different game when I watch Dion Waiters repeatedly do whatever he wants on offense, in transition, and on defense. This guy can take over a game in any of these aspects, and many times all of them at once. This argument is growing tiring...

 

[omniorange]

The annoying part is not that some analysts think a team may be better than Cuse. Somebody may very well be better. The annoying part is that you would never hear this debate if another team was currently number one. When the Cuse loses hold of number one, these debates will stop.

This. ^^^^

It's taken OSU and now UNC losing three times before they have stopped being referred to as "the best team" in the country. It will probably take Kentucky two more losses before the same is said. But when Syracuse (or Baylor for that matter) loses, they will most likely not even enter the discussion of best team after said loss.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[OrangeCrush22]

Says the guy who had trouble naming a 2nd player on Ohio State.

It's a joke, dude.

 

[orangecuse]

Baylor is an extremely athletic team so SU would not have any advantage in an up and down game. Their half court sets are similar to ours, meaning they struggle considerably during stretches. Watched them beat WVA during some Thanksgiving holiday tournament, WVA played them tough and could've just as easily pulled out the victory with a few breaks down the stretch.

Keeping things real, SU needs improvement on their offensive sets to truly be dominate. They certainly can be beat by Baylor, UK, OSU or a solid team that protects the ball and doesn't turn it over in droves, to really think otherwise is overly subjective. This weekend's Providence game was close (and our offense stagnant) until we put on the press and got all them turnovers...assisted tremendoulsy by Counsil being out. I think that the amount of turnovers we have been getting and points off same, somewhat masks this deficiency. It will be interesting to see the efficiency of our offensive sets as the BE schedule gets more challenging and we don't go on such quite big runs fueled by all them turnovers.

In my opinion, this will ultimately determine how successful we are come March...as the tourney is typically a half court affair.

 

[Orangeyes]

Who is UT Arlington? Baylor beat them by 10 at home. UT Arlington has lost to Samford, Texas by 18, Tulsa and Utah St

Baylor just escaped by 3 over BYU on the road giving up 83 points. The Jimmerless BYU squad has lost to Utah St by 7, to Wisconsin by 17 and to St Mary's by 16.

The Bears just nipped West Virginia in Vegas by 2 in OT. West Virginia has lost to Kent St by 10, Miss St by 13, Seton Hall by 18 and UConn by 7

Baylor squeaked by Miss St by 2 on the road. Mississippi St has lost to Akron by 10 and Arkansas by 10.

Beat a six loss Texas A&M at home by 9.

Won by 13 at Tex Tech who has lost to Indiana St by 11, DePaul by 6, Wake Forest by 9, to TCU by 6, to Oral Roberts by 16, by 8 to Oklahoma St, to Kansas by 35 and to Tex A&M by 13.

Just edged K State on the road by 2 who lost to West Virginia by 5 in 2 OT, to Kansas by 18 and to Oklahoma by 9.