Duke and UNC are probably more exciting, and both of them might be better teams than Villanova.
But the Cuse is in competition with Nova for the Buffalo pod and the East region in MSG. While I think Nova is more of a top-15 quality team than a Top-5 team, they might not lose much in a mediocre Big East. If they have wins against Kansas and at Syracuse and then go say 16-2 in conference, they'll have a strong case for the 1 seed in the East. I'm at least a little skeptical that the committee would put Syracuse as a #2 or #3 playing in MSG. (And alternatively, even if both teams are in the top-4 in the S-curve, it'd suck at least a little bit to get shipped out of the East.) As to the pods, it's obviously possible (probable?) that Syracuse and Nova get the two Buffalo slots. Still, though, it'd be nice to be above Nova if the season doesn't go perfectly.
A loss wouldn't be a disaster for Syracuse, but a win would be very, very good for the Wildcats. Maybe a fool's errand to look this far ahead, of course.
But the Cuse is in competition with Nova for the Buffalo pod and the East region in MSG. While I think Nova is more of a top-15 quality team than a Top-5 team, they might not lose much in a mediocre Big East. If they have wins against Kansas and at Syracuse and then go say 16-2 in conference, they'll have a strong case for the 1 seed in the East. I'm at least a little skeptical that the committee would put Syracuse as a #2 or #3 playing in MSG. (And alternatively, even if both teams are in the top-4 in the S-curve, it'd suck at least a little bit to get shipped out of the East.) As to the pods, it's obviously possible (probable?) that Syracuse and Nova get the two Buffalo slots. Still, though, it'd be nice to be above Nova if the season doesn't go perfectly.
A loss wouldn't be a disaster for Syracuse, but a win would be very, very good for the Wildcats. Maybe a fool's errand to look this far ahead, of course.
