Syracuse Plays Iowa St on Wednesday 1pm

[OttoinGrotto]

Or maybe not

Like, he woke up feeling great and might be a go?

I mean why not.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

I'll be that guy.

I like the match-up.

Another chance to beat a top Q1 team.

There once was a vision that was SU Hoops.

3 ranked teams in 3 days? Bring it on.

That used to be the vision that was SU Hoops.

Not, let's play someone decent but not too decent 'cause they'll probably beat us.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Like, he woke up feeling great and might be a go?

I mean why not.

 

[DoctahLexus]

Like, he woke up feeling great and might be a go?

I mean why not.

Did Donnie wake up feeling great?

 

[djorange1989]

I'll be that guy.

I like the match-up.

Another chance to beat a top Q1 team.

There once was a vision that was SU Hoops.

3 ranked teams in 3 days? Bring it on.

That used to be the vision that was SU Hoops.

Not, let's play someone decent but not too decent 'cause they'll probably beat us.

Yeah well, until we are loaded like those old Syracuse teams, playing 4(Tennessee is next) better and more talented teams than us in the span of a week, without our leading scorer to boot, is not ideal.

 

[Blanko97]

Solid? That’s a murderer’s row. We could easily get smoked and everyone on here is gonna be mad about it. We need a confidence building win. They could have easily paired us with Maryland, Baylor, Creighton, SDSU, Oregon, etc. Also, have our fans totally forgotten that we’re missing our best player and top scorer?

Pretty obvious I was being facetious

 

[Scooch]

I won’t stand idly by as you besmirch the name of the Squirt Holliday Challenge.

You really haven’t lived until you spend New Year’s Eve with the families of 16 Squirt hockey players at a Holiday Inn in Marlboro, Mass.

 

[Sherman20]

I'll be that guy.

I like the match-up.

Another chance to beat a top Q1 team.

There once was a vision that was SU Hoops.

3 ranked teams in 3 days? Bring it on.

That used to be the vision that was SU Hoops.

Not, let's play someone decent but not too decent 'cause they'll probably beat us.

But we’re not there yet as a program to play four top 20 teams in a row (3 of them top 10). We’re still building back to relevance, and it seems we’re making progress, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. You have to challenge yourself as a program but you also can’t over schedule. There has to be confidence building wins.

 

[jncuse]

3 games is the max for a tournament correct?

Unless they come up with a rule that allows this tournament to be 4 games I can't see how the format will ever be equitable. (And at 32 games it will be even worse). Using margin to determine finalists is crazy when strength of opponents can vary so much.

It gives you good games, but if there is no faith in the system to determine the finalists and champions tournament will lose its lustre quickly.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

They can easily solve all of this by just pre-defining the matchups.

 

[690West]

3 games is the max for a tournament correct?

There is nothing written anywhere that it’s 3 games max. The organizers could absolutely give us a 4th game tomorrow. Now I’m sure we’ll be on the plane home when that news comes out but there is definitely a chance for a 4th game with the group running this tourney

 

[Starman]

I know everyone was trying to math out the seeding last night, but I never thought it would come to anything. From everything I saw, it looked like the formula was only meant to be used to determine the championship and runner up games. After that, it was just open to event organizers.

It definitely feels like we got boned, but I'd rather this than a nobody team.

 

[jncuse]

There is nothing written anywhere that it’s 3 games max. The organizers could absolutely give us a 4th game tomorrow. Now I’m sure we’ll be on the plane home when that news comes out but there is definitely a chance for a 4th game with the group running this tourney

I thought 3 games is the max the NCAA allows for an in-season tournament.
Which is why they couldn't do the normal tournament format.
Could certainly be wrong.

 

[690West]

I thought 3 games is the max the NCAA allows for an in-season tournament.
Which is why they couldn't do the normal tournament format.
Could certainly be wrong.

I was joking. Well with this tourney, half joking. Lol

 

[jncuse]

I was joking. Well with this tourney, half joking. Lol

Should have noted that.

 

[FloridaCuse]

Following the seeding format for the third game would have led to a St. John’s - ISU rematch. Couldn’t do that but don’t understand taking the best team not in the Final Four and matching them up with the worst team not relegated to a Thursday bottom four game.
Iowa State’s issue is that the Final Four participants receive additional NIL money and using a tiebreaker of point differential to determine those teams when level of competition is significantly varied cost them that money. And did so by one point.
Plan next year is to have a bracket style tournament with 4 8-team pods. What happens beyond that largely depends on whether the NCAA approves an appeal that would allow a full 5 game schedule to count as a single MTE and not exceed the maximum number of games rule.
At this point Syracuse is contracted to play in the 2026 and 27 tournaments.

Consigliere - what do you make of this comment by AA?

 

[Consigliere]

Consigliere - what do you make of this comment by AA?

Not much. It was widely reported that our participation is part of a three year agreement. Always subject to change of course, but that report was confirmed by high ranking representatives of the athletic department. I’ve already booked my trip for next year.

Tournament was supposed to move to 4 pods of 8 teams playing true brackets next year, and petitioned the NCAA to allow the four champions to playoff the following week to crown a true champion and count as one MTE, but sounds like that is still under discussion.

Players Era CEO flips, to rethink format for 2026

After promising to stick to the current format, Players Era Festival CEO Seth Berger told ESPN that the event will consider a new one when next year's field expands to 32 teams.

www.espn.com

 

[FloridaCuse]

Not much. It was widely reported that our participation is part of a three year agreement. Always subject to change of course, but that report was confirmed by high ranking representatives of the athletic department. I’ve already booked my trip for next year.

Tournament was supposed to move to 4 pods of 8 teams playing true brackets next year, and petitioned the NCAA to allow the four champions to playoff the following week to crown a true champion and count as one MTE, but sounds like that is still under discussion.

Players Era CEO flips, to rethink format for 2026

After promising to stick to the current format, Players Era Festival CEO Seth Berger told ESPN that the event will consider a new one when next year's field expands to 32 teams.

www.espn.com

Thanks. Maybe he just wasn't ready to confirm it or didn't know if he could.

 

[Consigliere]

Thanks. Maybe he just wasn't ready to confirm it or didn't know if he could.

No idea. And like I said anything is subject to change but I am very confident the deal Syracuse signed was for a three year commitment

 

[phil77]

Consigliere - what do you make of this comment by AA?

AA wont be here not his decision to make LOL But if we are invited back and dont take the invite, then we are stupid.

 

[CardiacCuse]

Man slap in the face it is now a disappointment to be forced to play us :-( That is how far we have fallen.

theres money on the line in the "championship games"...this whole format is horrific

 

[CardiacCuse]

They can easily solve all of this by just pre-defining the matchups.

just make it an actual tournament with a bracket

 

[CardiacCuse]

Did Donnie wake up feeling great?

no but i found it odd he was on his feet for most of the ISU game any time an SU player did something

if he has a serious lower body injury...shouldnt he have that thing elevated and not be putting weight on it???!??!??!

 

[Consigliere]

No idea. And like I said anything is subject to change but I am very confident the deal Syracuse signed was for a three year commitment

This is from Copilot search so take it for what it’s worth, but it’s out there somewhere:

The teams that have signed to play in the 2026 Players Era Basketball Tournament include:

• Alabama
• Auburn
• Baylor
• Creighton
• Gonzaga
• Houston
• Iowa State
• Kansas
• Louisville
• Miami
• Michigan
• Notre Dame
• Oregon
• Rutgers
• San Diego State
• St. John's
• Syracuse
• Tennessee
• Texas A&M
• Saint Joseph's
  These teams have committed to participate in the tournament, which is set to expand to 32 teams in 2026.
  
  1

 

[FloridaCuse]

This is from Copilot search so take it for what it’s worth, but it’s out there somewhere:

The teams that have signed to play in the 2026 Players Era Basketball Tournament include:

• Alabama
• Auburn
• Baylor
• Creighton
• Gonzaga
• Houston
• Iowa State
• Kansas
• Louisville
• Miami
• Michigan
• Notre Dame
• Oregon
• Rutgers
• San Diego State
• St. John's
• Syracuse
• Tennessee
• Texas A&M
• Saint Joseph's
  These teams have committed to participate in the tournament, which is set to expand to 32 teams in 2026.
  
  1

Thanks. It looks like 16 of the 18 from this year. Not including UNLV who I think took the place of St. Joseph's. Plus Louisville & Miami from The ACC. So if 4 pods they can put one in each pod. Of the bluebloods, missing is Duke, UNC, Kentucky & UCLA. Maybe this year's teams all signed multi-year contracts.