toughest tourny loss from 2000 on | Page 3 | Syracusefan.com

toughest tourny loss from 2000 on

Everyone complains about the Ohio State officiating and hardly anyone about the Marquette officiating.

The Marquette game was a literal misinterpretation of the rules on the over-and-back. Easily the biggest officiating blunder of an SU tourney game of my lifetime.
And then Buzz dancing on the cour after? Ugh that had me mad.
 
The 2010 team was poetry in motion. It was the type of team that needed every part to function perfectly. Without Arinze, it wasn't quite right. I know that sounds trite but it's true. That team was like a Lamborghini. So perfectly tuned that if you lost just one little thing to it, it wouldn't function.

Maybe it's not the loss, but Arinze going out against G'Town that was the biggest hurt. That team was just so balanced.

2nd place is Ohio State in 2012. The refs STOLE that game from us. Go back and watch it. I will go to my grave believing that the NCAA had the hit in on SU that year. With Fab, that team wins it all or at least gives UK all they could handle. Such an amazing defensive juggernaut and it bothers me that we never had the chance to see SU and UK at full strength playing one another.
My sentiments exactly
 
Vermont. Rented a place up in Lake Placid for the weekend with some friends. Had expectations to spend a good portion of the time just watching SU cruise through the first round. That loss was like a bomb went off. The rest of the weekend none of us wanted to be anywhere near a TV.
 
Last edited:
Ohio State, and it isn't even close.

That team was poised to win the national championship. We were the only team capable of taking down Kentucky that year, and we would have. And instead, we got screwed by the refs that entire game, as Ohio State shot 40+ free throws, and barely edged us out.

Cemented my eternal hatred of OSU forever.
 
Ohio State, and it isn't even close.

That team was poised to win the national championship. We were the only team capable of taking down Kentucky that year, and we would have. And instead, we got screwed by the refs that entire game, as Ohio State shot 40+ free throws, and barely edged us out.

Cemented my eternal hatred of OSU forever.

with Fab I agree...not sure anyone was stopping AD tho
 
Vermont doesn't rank very high for me but it does suck that Gus Johnson was going crazy and we can't enjoy that call as a neutral observer.
 
Butler, by a large margin

Michigan
Ohio St.

I never saw the Vermont game. I agreed to attend a family thing. It was set to record but never did. Thus, there is no real memory of it.
 
Vermont doesn't rank very high for me but it does suck that Gus Johnson was going crazy and we can't enjoy that call as a neutral observer.
You might rank it higher if you were in Worcester that day. After the game the Mass Pike was littered with Cuse zombies who couldn't believe what they witnessed.
 
I can't choose between 2000 MSU, 2005 Vermont and 2010 Butler. The first two I really questioned What JB was doing. The latter was more severe disappointment at what could have been.

For MSU game, I was stunned. It seemed like JB forgot how to coach when they started coming back.

I mean, it was total deer in the headlights time. He just sat there and did nothing as the team completely collapsed.

I'd bet the win probability at one point in that game was at least 85% or close to 90%. I doubt any of the other losses that were listed would be anywhere near that high.

I think he learned quite a lot from the loss though. The zone responsibilities, particularly up top, definitely started to change beginning shortly thereafter.


 
I want to say Michigan simply for the fact it was the f4. But I’m going with Vermont. First NCAA game I took my kid too. He was 8 at the time and was so excited. Standing on his seat most of the time to be able to see with one hand on my shoulder and his other hand on the shoulder of a lady he didn’t know. When the game was over, he was devastated. Cried and cried. That hurt.
i blame Vermont on me Rick. I've never seen Syracuse lose in the NCAA in person (i'm 7-0). Went to Montana St/Drexel/Georgia/Kansas/Manhattan/Ok St/Wisconsin games. I decided last second to not go to the Vermont game.

Beer on me at the Blarney (in the virtual syracuse community that is created in 10 years) Rick
 
worst part about the butler loss was butler didnt even play that well. they had much better games in the tournament that year. for a large part of that 2nd half they couldnt make a shot. we just got off to an awful start, then we crapped the bed the last 4 minutes when we had a 4 point lead. everything that could go wrong did. i think butler hit a 3 to cut it to 1 then we paniced. we had no poise down the stretch, which was very surprising for that team.
 
That Ohio St game was also very tough. Number one, if we have Fab, Sullinger does not go off. Second, we still were right there but Craft was allowed to assault us but we couldn’t touch him. Refs were brutal that game.
Yep, and the game announcers were in love with Craft . It was so frustrating.
 
You know what?

The Marquette loss hurt more than Butler and OSU.
 
I’ve never loved a regular season ‘Cuse team like that 2010 edition. That was the college equivalent of the ‘86 Celtics — every component of that team fit together perfectly. Watching us try to run our O through an overwhelmed Rick Jackson in that Butler game was physically painful. We were going to be champs that year, I just knew it, and then AO got hurt against G’town. Crushing.

Also, I don’t think I’ve ever been angrier at officiating than in the first half of the Ohio State game. I very rarely blame refs for a loss, but that game was outright stolen from us. Something nefarious was up that day, I’m sure of it.
 
You know what?

The Marquette loss hurt more than Butler and OSU.

That is a hot take. I will say though that I was all set to go to the regional in Newark the next weekend, so that was especially disappointing. But I did follow through with travel plans and drink the sorrows away in New York while watching exactly no basketball that weekend.
 
Something about that Dayton game. Completing the downward trajectory of that season in that fashion was so depressing.
 
Butler
Michigan/Ohio State

You can put the rest in any order
 

Forum statistics

Threads
167,146
Messages
4,683,065
Members
5,901
Latest member
CarlsbergMD

Online statistics

Members online
269
Guests online
1,493
Total visitors
1,762


Top Bottom