I feel like we can beat any of the other top teams

[IthacaMatt]

but the challenge will be getting past the Sweet 16. As a 1 seed, in what I see as the second easiest region, it's almost like we getting a free pass into the 2nd weekend. UNC - Asheville (with Bruce Hornsby's son playing on the team) is like a typical November OOC opponent, and either Southern Miss or Kansas State also fit that bill - a good squad, but a very beatable squad, on par with Marshall or Stanford.

At the Sweet 16, we likely get Vandy or Wisconsin. Vanderbilt is the better team, because they have a pretty good big man and good 3 point shooters. Wisconsin would be a grind it out game, but they kind of suck offensively. All we would need is one good run against them, and they'd never be able to play from behind.

But then again, the Big East championship was just sitting there waiting for us, and like clockwork, we screwed it up, as we have every time (or did we win it once ?) when we are the #1 seed.

If we can't get past the Sweet 16 with this squad, with a number 1 seed, and no team like UConn or Marquette waiting for us in the 2nd round, I just don't see how we screw thjs one up.

To me, if we can make it to the "Big Games" - (Ohio State in a regional final, and of course our final four opponents) I don't have as much concern about those games. When we get to big games, we usually do well. It's the getting there that I'm worried about, with the way this team finished up the season.

Kris and Scoop have to come to play, with decisiveness and energy. Quick smart decisions. Attack the rim. Get out on the shooters. LGO !!!

 

[PoppyHart]

I've heard UNCA has great Range.

 

[KingOtis]

The BET was a meaningless exercise.

Potential showdowns with K-State and Wisconsin will feel like Big East games, the former being a WVU or Pitt (this year) and the latter being a Notre Dame or South Florida.

If we wind up facing Vandy, I have two comments regarding one Festus Ezeli. First of all, Fab Melo has done very well this year against top big men like Patric Young and Herb Pope. And second, the way the experts are talking, you would think Ezeli just got back from his injury in time for the SEC tournament. Wrong, he's been playing since January. They've lost plenty of games with him in the lineup.

Ohio State, like K-State, will only get two days to prepare for our zone. Our record in the Round of 32 and Elite 8 speaks for itself. (Marquette was not our usual second round opponent; they knew what was coming.)

 

[HoustonCuse]

I just am not worried at all about Scoop and Kris - they will bounce back and play well. At least we will play a team with a bunch of hype in the second round/Sweet 16. If it was Creighton or Wichita State or somebody I would worry because they always seem to come out flat against those teams or underestimate them.

 

[moqui]

Our record in the Round of 32 and Elite 8 speaks for itself.

huh? I will give you the Elite 8, but since the tournament expanded to 64 teams, SU's record in the Round of 32 is just 11-7. OK, it's a winning record, but not something to inspire a ton of confidence. It is SU's 4th best round out of 6.

In the modern (64+ team) era, Syracuse is just 22-21 in its 22 NCAA tournament appearances. Of those 21 losses, 2/3 of them have come in the rounds of 32 and 16. Those are the graveyards for Syracuse squads, and no team lurking there should ever be dismissed. Kansas State and USM both have red flags in their profiles that could be a problem for Syracuse - K State is an outstanding offensive rebounding team (7th in the nation in offensive rebounding rate), while USM is one of the best teams in the nation at taking care of the ball - they are 11th lowest in offensive turnover percentage

I think this bracket looks pretty favorable, but I have thought so in other years, as well, and the limitations facing this team remain, so I don't take anything for granted.

Record by round since 1985:
Round of 64: 18-4 .818
Round of 32: 11-7 .611
Sweet 16: 4-7 .364
Elite 8: 3-1 .750
National Semi Final: 3-0 1.000
Championship: 1-2 .333

 

[TinyManInside]

and either Southern Miss or Kansas State also fit that bill - a good squad, but a very beatable squad, on par with Marshall or Stanford.

Neither Marshall nor Stanford made the tournament, so umm, that's not a good analogy. Both SM and KSt are better than those teams.

 

[Melancer46]

Personally, I think the fact that Kansas State's biggest strength is offensive rebounding actually plays into our hands. Let's be honest. Even if they destroy us on the offensive glass, we're talking 10-20 offensive rebounds at the very most. The fact that their biggest strength is something like that that also happens to be our weakness just means that they only have one advantage over us. Everything else plays into our hands. I'd much rather face a team that would beat anybody on the glass but isn't very good at anything else than a team that's great at scoring AND would kill us on the glass just because we suck at defensive rebounding.

 

[KingOtis]

huh? I will give you the Elite 8, but since the tournament expanded to 64 teams, SU's record in the Round of 32 is just 11-7. OK, it's a winning record, but not something to inspire a ton of confidence. It is SU's 4th best round out of 6.

Most of those losses came in the pre-Juli era*. The three post-Juli losses that come to mind were against Arkansas (an OT loss to the reigning champ and eventual runner-up that might have gone differently if not for a certain technical foul), Kansas (the greater seed, plus Shumpert was hurt) and Marquette (as I said, not the usual second round opponent).

*Just a clever way of saying when JB turned his reputation around. You can also call it the post-probation era (which would actually give him an extra second round win).

 

[kirbivore]

huh? I will give you the Elite 8, but since the tournament expanded to 64 teams, SU's record in the Round of 32 is just 11-7. OK, it's a winning record, but not something to inspire a ton of confidence. It is SU's 4th best round out of 6.

In the modern (64+ team) era, Syracuse is just 22-21 in its 22 NCAA tournament appearances. Of those 21 losses, 2/3 of them have come in the rounds of 32 and 16. Those are the graveyards for Syracuse squads, and no team lurking there should ever be dismissed.

Record by round since 1985:
Round of 64: 18-4 .818
Round of 32: 11-7 .611
Sweet 16: 4-7 .364
Elite 8: 3-1 .750
National Semi Final: 3-0 1.000
Championship: 1-2 .333

Wouldn't that be a record of 40-21?

 

[pfister1]

In the modern (64+ team) era, Syracuse is just 22-21 in its 22 NCAA tournament appearances. 3

I think its 40-21 overall, or at least something significantly higher than 22 wins.

 

[pfister1]

Most of those losses came in the pre-Juli era*. The three post-Juli losses that come to mind were against Arkansas (an OT loss to the reigning champ and eventual runner-up that might have gone differently if not for a certain technical foul), Kansas (the greater seed, plus Shumpert was hurt) and Marquette (as I said, not the usual second round opponent).

*Just a clever way of saying when JB turned his reputation around. You can also call it the post-probation era (which would actually give him an extra second round win).

Arkansas was pre-Juli. Didn't JB meet Juli the year we played Kenyucky in the title game? 1996.

Arkansas was the year before.

 

[moqui]

Wouldn't that be a record of 40-21?

yes, I am an idiot (forgot to add all the first round wins)

 

[KingOtis]

Arkansas was pre-Juli. Didn't JB meet Juli the year we played Kenyucky in the title game? 1996.

Arkansas was the year before.

They met in 1994 at a Kentucky Derby party, which would have been about a month after we lost to Mizzou.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Neither Marshall nor Stanford made the tournament, so umm, that's not a good analogy. Both SM and KSt are better than those teams.

Marshall had a final regular season RPI higher than K State, and was a team about on par with Cinci. Not a bad team, despite not making the tournament. Granted Stanford fell apart, but at the time we played them, they were considered to be a promising team, and a Pac 10 favorite. We specialize in early season games against beatable mid-level BCS teams, and quality, but again beatable mid-majors. Whether one made the tournament cut versus another was not really the point. These are the kinds of teams we play and beat regularly in the early season. We SHOULD beat either of these teams. After all, we went 31-2.

And to the other poster who talked about K State's offensive rebounding - yes, you can latch on to single statistics to show a match-up that may not be in our favor. Yes, it plays to our perceived weakness. But there's a reason they only went 6-6 in their last 12 games. They don't shoot the ball that great and they don't score a lot of points.

 

[Marsh01]

These are the kinds of teams we play and beat regularly in the early season. We SHOULD beat either of these teams. After all, we went 31-2.

And we will. KState. Fran Martin. We will not lose to that team.

 

[syr02esq]

We are NOT going to lose to a 10 loss Vanderbilt team.

 

[obliterata]

Getting past the Sweet Sixteen is indeed a problem, Coach Boeheim has only done it 4 times in 35 years.

The east region is the toughest in my opinion with 5 teams that have a combined 9 wins versus all the one and two seeds. If Kansas St can win at Missouri, if Vanderbilt can beat Kentucky, if Wisconsin can win at Ohio St, then they sure as hell can prevent SU from getting any farther this year too. Who cares if they're overseeded, look what they've done on the court.

 

[IthacaMatt]

We are NOT going to lose to a 10 loss Vanderbilt team.

There was no way we should have lost to Cincinnati, either. You've got to play the games.

 

[SUalldway]

The BET was a meaningless exercise.

Potential showdowns with K-State and Wisconsin will feel like Big East games, the former being a WVU or Pitt (this year) and the latter being a Notre Dame or South Florida.

If we wind up facing Vandy, I have two comments regarding one Festus Ezeli. First of all, Fab Melo has done very well this year against top big men like Patric Young and Herb Pope. And second, the way the experts are talking, you would think Ezeli just got back from his injury in time for the SEC tournament. Wrong, he's been playing since January. They've lost plenty of games with him in the lineup.

Ohio State, like K-State, will only get two days to prepare for our zone. Our record in the Round of 32 and Elite 8 speaks for itself. (Marquette was not our usual second round opponent; they knew what was coming.)

Agree with what you say, except Yancy Gates dominated Fab in this game. Took him to school I thought.

 

[KingOtis]

Agree with what you say, except Yancy Gates dominated Fab in this game. Took him to school I thought.

To reiterate, the BET was a meaningless exercise.

 

[SUalldway]

To reiterate, the BET was a meaningless exercise.

Didn't realize that Fab wasn't going to any school!