Syracuse NCAA Tournament Memories Thread

[runningorange]

Like everyone who frequents this board, I am a huge Syracuse fan (duh). Like many, I don't think I will be able to enjoy the tournament all that much without the Orange present. However, I have been a fan of the program for almost all of my life (born in 1987) and have many positive (and a few negative negative) memories of Syracuse participation each round of the NCAA tournament.

The purpose of this thread will be to share your favorite(s) Syracuse memories from each round of the NCAA tournament before/during that round is being played. Hopefully that can help to brighten our collective spirits as we anticipate better times in the future and support the team in the NIT.

Round of 64: Now (3/14) through Friday (3/17)
Round of 32: Saturday (3/18) through Sunday (3/19)
Sweet 16: Monday (3/20) through Friday (3/24)
Elite 8: Saturday (3/25) through Sunday (3/26)
Final 4: Monday (3/27) through Saturday (4/1)
NC: Sunday (4/2) through Monday (4/3)

I'll get things started with a couple of my favorite memories from the round of 64.

Memory 1, Thursday, March 18, 2004:
Syracuse (5) 80
BYU (12) 75
This was the game where Gerry scored 43 points and took the game over. This game recently got some press as John Gillon and Andrew White had similarly spectacular scoring outbursts against NC State and GT respectively. BYU started the game on fire and we feel behind by double digits early but Gerry couldn't be stopped. In the second half it was a close exciting game where we made just enough plays to win. This game was especially special to me because my Dad (who came home early from work to watch) allowed me to skip some school to watch the game (first time I ever did this to watch a game). I have great memories of us at home watching what turned out to be a thrilling game. In recent years, we have had some trouble connecting but our love for Syracuse basketball is something that definitely helps our relationship, when we don't have other things in common.

Memory 2, Friday, March 18, 2016:
Syracuse (10) 70
Dayton (7) 51
Like many, I attended the Dayton game in 2014 and it left a terrible taste in my mouth since it was apparent we were the better team and just shot terribly. This game washed away the 2014 game and helped propel us to an unlikely FF.

I am curious / excited to see the positive memories of others, especially those who have followed the program even longer than I have.

 

[CousCuse]

John Wallace hitting that shot against Georgia at the buzzer to go to the Final 4.

 

[HOFCeluck]

2004 was just brutal for me. I lived in Philadelphia, and all three games (I think) we played at the same time as St Joe's.

 

[jec1521]

Are we talking about games we have watched or games we have actually been to?

If it is games we have actually attended:

First Syracuse basketball game I ever went to was the 2003 Sweet Sixteen against Auburn. That was great. Place was ALL orange in Albany and we kept singing the F Em Up song. I was only 13 years old and I loved it.

Then 2013 Elite 8 vs Marquette to get to the Final Four in DC. That was awesome, especially after wat happened to us on the same floor only a couple weeks prior. I always wanted to see Cuse get to a Final Four in person (Drove up to Boston for the Elite 8 Game against Ohio State the year prior. That was severely disappointing. Felt like it would never happen since that was such a good year for us.)

As far as games that I did not attend, obviously 2003 is at the top, but last year was really remarkable. The Virginia game was something that I don't think any of us will ever forget. Lots of respect for Cooney and G after that run last year.

 

[OrangeDW]

In person, I attended the first two rounds in Buffalo in 2010. Vermont didn't put up much of a fight in the 1-16 game, so it was nice to pound them after what had happened 5 years earlier. I remember Scoop with a great crossover dribble and hoop really got the crowd going.

2012, another 16 seed UNC Asheville put up a good fight. I remember people freaking out about the FT violation called on them where their player walked inside the 3 point line while the shooter had the ball. I was shocked that so many people were unaware of that rule.

1998, Marius Janulis hit the 3 to beat Iona. Maybe the only SU NCAA tourney game I have been unable to watch in my lifetime. I was in Florida at the time and we weren't getting any coverage. Those were the dark days when they'd randomly switch coverages of games in round 1, too.

 

[Deano]

John Wallace hitting that shot against Georgia at the buzzer to go to the Final 4.

 

[samspann1]

Are we talking about games we have watched or games we have actually been to?

If it is games we have actually attended:

First Syracuse basketball game I ever went to was the 2003 Sweet Sixteen against Auburn. That was great. Place was ALL orange in Albany and we kept singing the F Em Up song. I was only 13 years old and I loved it.

Then 2013 Elite 8 vs Marquette to get to the Final Four in DC. That was awesome, especially after wat happened to us on the same floor only a couple weeks prior. I always wanted to see Cuse get to a Final Four in person (Drove up to Boston for the Elite 8 Game against Ohio State the year prior. That was severely disappointing. Felt like it would never happen since that was such a good year for us.)

As far as games that I did not attend, obviously 2003 is at the top, but last year was really remarkable. The Virginia game was something that I don't think any of us will ever forget. Lots of respect for Cooney and G after that run last year.

I've been fortunate to have attended at least one SU NCAA tourney game for each of our last 6 appearances:

2010 - Win over Gonzaga (Buffalo). Probably my favorite game - we dominated, after Robert Sacre talked crap about us being soft, and I was so sure that we were Final Four bound...

2011 - Win over Indiana State, Loss to Marquette (Cleveland). Had great seats for Indiana State, but the game itself was meh...it was uncomfortably close for much of the game, given the talent disparity. We played like crap against Marquette, who flopped all game. And the fateful call at the end of the game. Yuck.

2012 - Win against Kansas State (Pittsburgh). Nice W, and had a fun time after the game, as it was St. Patty's Day. The game itself was nearly unbearable due to the ahole sitting next to me, who was simply rooting against SU (not for KSU, just against SU). It was bad enough that his wife/GF apologized to me.

2013 - Loss against Michigan (Atlanta). Great run, just not our day. Some questionable calls didn't go our way, and we couldn't hit a shot to save our lives.

2014 - Win against W. Michigan, Loss against Dayton (Buffalo). The Dayton loss was my least favorite in person NCAA SU game, BY FAR. The game itself, well, nothing needs to be said. Once again, a guy behind me, a St. John's fan from the Albany area, with a fake New York accent, spent the whole game crapping on SU. The guy next to me (an SU fan), turned around, and asked him why he was even at the game, and who he rooted for...Johnnies fan declared his SJU fanhood, and the SU fan just laughed hysterically. That was the best part of that game, for me.

2016 - loss to UNC (Houston). Great experience, and great & unexpected run by the boys. UNC was just a better team.

 

[OrangeDW]

I remember at the time being convinced that we were going to win it all and that Wallace shot was going to take the place of the Laettner shot in the introduction highlight packages that they showed before every tournament game.

I still think if Sims didn't get hurt, leading to like 5 straight turnovers, we would've found a way to pull that one off.

 

[CousCuse]

In the championship game Kentucky fouled the hell out of SU and never got called.

 

[jec1521]

Wow, Wallace really took his time getting out to defend that last 3. Certainly made up for it though.

 

[kirbivore]

1st round - The 2012 escape vs. UNC Asheville. I loved the usual suspects in the media having a hissy fit of some calls at the end. SU was the heel that year.
2nd round - 2003 vs. Oklahoma St. I was at the game in the new Boston Garden and went from depressed to elated in about 5 minutes. McNeil was a beast as the goalie of the trunk monkey press
sweet 16 - 1996 vs. UGA. Freshman year of college. Huddled around a small TV with some other Cuse fans while a house party raged around us.
regional final - 1987 vs. UNC I was only 10 but I understood that UNC was royalty and nobody was picking SU in that game. I hated UNC way more back then.
National semi's - 2003 vs. Texas. Thank God we had Melo to win that shootout. Also the Warrick teabag dunk.
National Final - 2003 vs. Kansas. Only regret was I didn't have the coin to make the trip

 

[kirbivore]

In the championship game Kentucky fouled the hell out of SU and never got called.

Yes. and IIRC out of Wallace's five fouls at least three were very ticky tack.

 

[HoustonCuse]

Good idea OP. Clearly nobody understood the concept but I think the thread will still be good.

 

[HakAttack]

Great thread. I missed the point of it, but on looking back, I am representing each "round" so to speak, from 64/32, to 16/8, and 4, so here we go.

2012 - First NCAA Tournament Game was 2012 First Round against UNC Asheville in Pittsburgh. Drove the 5 1/2 hours from Binghamton. Thank god we were the second game of the session otherwise we might never have made it. Got $20 cheap upper level seats from Stubhub. All of the fans around us were clearly rooting for the upset and UNCA actually led at the end of the first half. My GF (now wife) and I decided that if we were going to be witness to unpropitious history, we'd join the Syracuse contingent in the lower bowl in the second half. So we did. And it was much better. DC didn't sit down the entire second half, much to the chagrin of the people sitting behind him. On the way out of the arena, I saw who I thought was the ex-SU QB Marvin Graves, and asked to take a photo with him. His response: "You don't know who I am, do you?" "No, I guess I don't, I replied." "Man! I'm Scoop Jardine's Dad!"

Whoops.

2013 - Second NCAA Tournament Game was 2013 Elite Eight against Marquette in Washington. Great, great game. Sat in the upper bowl, but didn't even care. Snapped photos with a bunch of SU legends, including Leo Rautins, Lawrence Moten, and Pearl. (RIP). Once I was at this game, I was hooked and although I didn't make it to Atlanta for the Final Four, I made a promise to myself that I'd attend the next Final Four (and every one thereafter) that Syracuse played in.

2015 - I didn't think it would happen so quickly. In 2015, the dust had barely begun to settle from the improbable victory in the Elite Eight against Virginia than I found myself booking a flight with another family member to Houston. As a grad student at SU, I was able to score some great seats once the Dome box office opened up the next day, something like $300 for both sessions (Semifinal and Final). Done. Boarded a flight to Austin, where we rented a car and drove to Houston. Met Coach Hopkins and Malachi when I went to the team hotel to pick up our tickets. Hop happily posed for a photo, Malachi mean-mugged one. (I guess he already had the NBA on his mind).

What an incredible atmosphere. Everywhere you looked, the city was decked out with Final Four banners and decorations. The game was deflating, but our seats were fantastic as we were able to move even closer and ended up maybe 20 rows behind the court. The whole SU family was there and I met and got photos with: Scoop, John Wallace, Etan Thomas and Moten (again). Even though they lost it was an incredible trip, topped off by THE BEST Fish and Grits I've ever had at the Breakfast Klub the following morning. We also ended up scalping our tickets to the championship game immediately after the loss to UNC, for maybe $100 a ticket? I don't regret that at all, and despite missing perhaps one of the best endings of all time in a final game, I was witness to reliving it with the loud and celebratory Villanova fans on our flight back to Philadelphia on Tuesday.

All told, three epic NCAA adventures. I hope I'll be privy to many more, but I know one thing for sure. As long as I'm still upright and walking, I'll never miss another Syracuse Final Four. If anyone's ever on the fence about it, pull the trigger. The memories last for a lifetime.

 

[Cowtown]

My favorite thing about SU being in the Tournament was always the fact I'd get to see some parts of the SU games. Living 2500 miles away in a country where hockey, curling, English soccer, fishing, pro wrestling, poker and darts are more popular than college hoops, it was usually my first chance all year to see them. The magic of 1996 will probably never wear off, because for me it came so unexpectedly. That year I was teaching in a school where there was a pretty good athletic program over the years, and a couple of the more rough and tumble kids were goofing off one day about a week later. So after I got on them to get started, they looked at each other, deciding whether to give me the runaround and the one kid shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, he knew about Syracuse ..." and they settled down and got to work.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

2nd round - 2003 vs. Oklahoma St. I was at the game in the new Boston Garden and went from depressed to elated in about 5 minutes. McNeil was a beast as the goalie of the trunk monkey press

We had upper deck tickets for that game but plopped down in two empty seats in the lower level. A guy and his kid sat down next to us. We were talking to him the entire time. It took us a few minutes but we realized it was Ray Liotta. We talked basketball the whole time. Nicest guy in the world. He asked me if I thought Cuse would come back. Absolutely.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

2012 - Win against Kansas State (Pittsburgh). Nice W, and had a fun time after the game, as it was St. Patty's Day. The game itself was nearly unbearable due to the ahole sitting next to me, who was simply rooting against SU (not for KSU, just against SU). It was bad enough that his wife/GF apologized to me.

I literally almost got into a fist fight during that game. There was this one guy a few rows ahead of us yelling "Cheaters" every 30 seconds in this very loud obnoxious voice. I couldn't take it anymore and snapped and screamed "Shut the ". Then we starting jarring with each other. It wasn't pretty.

 

[CousCuse]

A bad memory came back from the '95 tourney team when Poetry called time out with no time outs and get a technical to lose the game against eventual runner up Arkansas. Ark had won the championship the previous year and was a super power at that time.

 

[jncuse]

Purely in terms of first round memories...
I remember 2013 - the Seth Davis game against Montana or Montana St. We blew them out so bad, I fell asleep early in the second half.

2012 UNC Asheville game. Blatantly terrible announcers, who were basically cheering for bad calls to be made to see a 1 for 16 upset.

2004 against BYU. First round games fade from my memory pretty quick. But I will always remember this one not for G-MAC, but instead for a BYU big who stepped out and had a nice mid range game. I had never really saw him but I was mildly impressed by Rafael Aruajo. I did not know that he was a good prospect at the time. Neither did the NBA at any point. Except for the Toronto Raptors who made him the overall pick. I never saw Aruajo play as well as he did against Syracuse for the rest of his NBA career. One of the worst lottery picks ever.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Elite 8 game against Oklahoma in 2003 at the now timesunion center in Albany when we made Hollis Price look like he was on the JV Squad is my favorite game ever attending in person.

 

[Stevenson]

The NCAAs in Albany in 2003. That Oklahoma beat down...partying all weekend.

 

[Briancuse]

2017 when the selection committee decided to screw us for two undeserving teams like usc and wake forrest.

 

[runningorange]

Thanks all for contributing. I intended for people to post their favorite Syracuse memories from each round as it happens but I appreciate the memories none the less. Since I will likely not be around this weekend (and thus unable to contribute during the 2nd round) as it happens, here are my 2 favorite Syracuse memories from the round of 32:

Memory 1: Syracuse vs Oklahoma State, 2003.
Like many I started to feel that the Syracuse 2003 team was going to be special after winning @Michigan State on the road. However, trailing 25-8 against OSU in the second round things looked bleak. Carmelo was not playing well and we were struggling to score. I began to lose faith. The rest is history. The bench stepping up, Jeremy McNeil blocking shots, Gerry going off from 3, Josh Pace stepping up, and Syracuse winning quite comfortable (after it looked like we were going to get blown out 10 minutes in). First step towards the ultimate goal, the NC. First step to becoming big 12 champions as we would eventually destroy every good team in that conference.

Memory 2: Syracuse versus Kentucky, 2000.

This was a classic 4 vs 5 game. It was back and forth, with Shumpert hitting the huge go ahead jumper late in the game for a 52-50 win, coupled with a huge defensive stop. It is a shame that team ran into MSU in the Sweet 16 since it was easily capable of going to the final four (and was very underseeded).

Bonus memory: Syracuse vs KState in 2012. Not really a close game, but the first NCAA game I attended in person (one week after the birth of my son).

 

[cuse91]

the semi final game vs Texas had to be one of my favorite memories. I was only in 6th grade and had only been watching syracuse basketball for a couple years but I remember watching the Texas game at a friends house then walking home after the game and hearing parties going on all around the neighborhood.

 

[Brian Orange]

Man so many good memories.

2003 vs Auburn on a Friday I think. It was 70 degrees in Albany. On Sunday it was in the 30s and I was skidding on the ice driving there. Almost turned around the highway was so bad.

2012 vs Wisconsin - remember the Sweet 16 had been a big thorn in our side. That was a great game

Last year vs Gonzaga - watched at our bar in NYC. So awesome celebrating with other fans. Another great win.

Some great memories.