HERE
Be honest. If someone told you back in November that the Syracuse University men’s basketball team would enter the NCAA Tournament as a No. 3 seed with a 27-5 record, you would have said, “I’ll take it.”
But not all No. 3 seeds and 27-5 records are created equal. If someone told you on Feb. 15 that the Orange would enter the NCAA Tournament as a No. 3 seed with a 27-5 record, you would have asked, “What happened?”
So now that SU is entering the NCAA Tournament as the No. 3 seed in the South Region with a 27-5 record, how do you feel about it? Probably a lot like CBS Sports college basketball analyst Doug Gottlieb.
“Which Syracuse is going to show up?” Gottlieb asked on CBS’ March 16 NCAA Tournament selection show. “The one over the last month, or the one over the previous four months?”
The Orange will answer that question Thursday, March 20, 2:45 p.m., when it faces No. 14-seed Western Michigan (23-9) in its first NCAA Tournament game at Buffalo’s First Niagara Center. If Syracuse beats the Broncos, it will face the winner of No. 6 Ohio State and No. 11 Dayton in the round of 32 on Saturday, March 22, in Buffalo.
Despite relying on a freshman point guard (Tyler Ennis) and two other new starters (guard Trevor Cooney and forward Jerami Grant), the Orange surprised everyone by winning its first 25 games and being ranked No. 1 in the nation for three consecutive weeks. But SU enters the NCAA Tournament having dropped five of its last seven games, including the Friday, March 14, head-scratching 66-63 loss to North Carolina State in its first-ever Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament game.
“We’re right where we should be, the No. 3 seed,” SU senior forward C.J. Fair said. “We had a great year this year. We had a little losing streak toward the end of the season, but overall this season was a success, as far as the regular season. Going into the tournament you’ve got to just keep fighting and make that one last push.”
As the Orange prepares for its 37th NCAA Tournament appearance and 31st under Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim, here are three reasons why you should be worried and three reasons why you should be optimistic:
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SU hoopsters open in NCAA tourney Thursday afternoon