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Message: [QUOTE="cuse522, post: 1722423, member: 1149"] Now we're REALLY, REALLY playing with house money. Anytime you're a win away from the national title game, it's crushing if you lose, but obviously this team has exceeded expectations and gifted us with an awesome run as fans. Yes, we'll be sizable underdogs today, but there are a few reasons I really like our chances. 1. We STILL haven't had a complete game yet. When Richardson, Lydon, G and Cooney all bring it offensively and Roberson does his thing defensively, we can hang with anyone. I thought for sure we'd need that to happen to make the Sweet 16 and to make the Final Four, but some upsets cleared our path, we got it done other ways, and now we're in the Final Four and haven't had to have a complete game. That said, everyone on that list has played at the level we need them to at one point or another in this tournament. If they do it all at once Saturday, we have a great shot. 2. These guys seem to relish having a chip on their shoulder. Every step of this tourney this team has been able to have that extra motivation. Almost everyone will be picking UNC today. We’ve proven we can play with them for stretches, we need to do it for a complete game. 3. Jim Boeheim is 3-1 in the Final Four. He’s 1-0 as a lower seed in the Final Four and 2-1 as the same or higher seed. Roy Williams has gone to seven Final Fours, he’s 3-2 as the same or higher seed and 1-1 as a lower seed. 4. Malachi Richardson grew immensely in my opinion in that stretch during the comeback against UVA. I view him as a sophomore now, as I posted separately, and I think he is ready to thrive in his role as “the man,” in crunch time. 5. We'll have the crowd on our side - there will be more UNC than Syracuse fans, but the majority of the rest of the crowd will be pulling for the upset most likely. We have plenty of critics in the media, but in the arena we should have more support. 6. It’s tough to beat a team three times in a season, plus the first two games were closer than people realize. 7. UNC is not a great defensive team, they ranked 122nd in scoring defense. Obviously that doesn’t account for pace/efficiency, but UVA ranked second in scoring defense. We tend to struggle against those types of teams, although we got past Virginia. In my opinion, the way the ‘Cuse is playing defensively right now, we can slow down just about anybody. I don’t expect to hold UNC to ~60, but we should also have an easier time scoring against them than UVA. UNC averages 83 points per game. I think 70 is probably the number. We lost the first meeting 84-73, and the second 75-70. If we can hold them to 70 or fewer, we’ll have a decent shot. I believe the way we’re playing right now, we can do that. Keep in mind that at the Carrier Dome, it was Boeheim’s first game back and we lost by 11. You could make the case that his first game back was not going to be one in which we performed as well. Then we lost by five in their house. We should do better on a neutral floor. What do you all have for some reasons to be confident going into today? [/QUOTE]

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