Syracuse Basketball Left Out of NCAA Tournament: Rapid Reaction
By Josh Peelman
Syracuse Basketball fans already know the news: they did not make it into the NCAA Tournament this year. Inside The Loud House looks why this happened and reacts to the news.
Syracuse Basketball got the news we feared would happen. The Orange were left out of the field of 68 for the first time (without sanctions) since 2008. Like many ‘Cuse fans I am disappointed upon hearing the news, but we can only move foward. Here’s three quick thoughts on our exclusion from the field and the upcoming NIT.
1.) USC’s inclusion in the field is the only real thing that makes me furious.
Yes, Syracuse kicked itself in the foot by having several bad losses this year and not winning more than two close road games (against teams not in the field). Yet, in a side-by-side comparison with USC its pretty clear Syracuse is the better team. USC’s best wins were SMU, who in my opinion is a fringe top 25 team, and UCLA who they lost to two times out of three. One of those losses was by 32!!!
In addition, experts say Syracuse won all their quality wins at home. They’d be right because we beat three top 10 teams in Duke, Virginia, and Florida State all at home, in addition to Monmouth, Wake Forest and Miami. USC has the same case going for it in that their two top 25 wins, SMU & UCLA were played at home. A small note: SMU was unranked early in the season when USC played them at home.
So let’s tally shall we:
Top 10 Wins: Syracuse (3)- USC (1)
Top 50 Wins: Syracuse (6)- USC (2)
Road Wins Syracuse (2)- USC (6)
Syracuse had 4 less road wins which probably played a factor, but they also were in the tougheest conference in the nation. A conference in which only 3 teams in the ACC had a winning road record according to ESPN.com statistics.
Still, every year the committee emphasizes that quality wins are what the selection committee looks for. Andy Bottoms of Assembly Call, a renowned bracketologist, had this interesting note to add:
"The Orange do boast six Top 50 wins, and ultimately Top 50 wins were a large factor in their inclusion last season. Since 2009, just one team with that many Top 50 wins has been left out, Colorado in 2011."
So yeah, Syracuse had lots of reasons to miss the field, we all know this, but if it comes down to past history and the eye test, Syracuse wins hands down. The USC inclusion infuriates me, but every other team in the field beside them was rightly there in my opinion. That’s right, even you, 15-loss Vanderbilt. You belonged.
Check out Coach Jim Boeheim’s reaction here:
2. We had a gut feeling Syracuse wouldn’t make the cut. However because we’re loyal fans we stuck with them and that’s a good thing.
Syracuse Basketball fans felt for awhile we just didn’t have what it takes to make it to the NCAA tournament this year. Sure they’re an extremely talented team, but it just took too long to gel. The fact our fanbase stood by them, came out in 30K droves twice this season shows how loyal we are. We should be proud of our team even in the midst of three 13 loss seasons in a row.
Syracuse Basketball is special. We can’t describe why we’re so loyal to them, but we are. We feel their disappointment and euphoria and stick by them through good and bad. If we move, like I did to Georgia, we still follow them just as if the Carrier Dome was down the street.
This team made us all believe this year they could make it, even with the naysayers saying no. As it is, they almost did make it as Syracuse was one of the first four out. The fact that this team got us to buy in and be loyal no matter what shows we’re the best kind of fanbase. So if there’s one thing i’m happy about besides the disappointment is that the fanbase never gives up on our team, and that’s a great thing.
3.) Syracuse gets home court advantage as a #1 seed in the NIT- Oh Yeah!!!!
I mean this sucks for me since I can’t be in person to go to NIT games like the last time Syrcause went to the NIT, but its great for Syracuse fans in New York State! The atmosphere for NIT games is great. It has the feel of a playoff game since its win-or-your-out. Since the Dome gets loud at home games, its even better.
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Since we’re the #1 seed in our region we get to play in the Carrier Dome until the semifinals. If we make it there we play at Madison Square Garden in New York. Once again another boost for the Orange. So if you think about it, yes it sucks they missed out on the tournament, but they have a great shot to win the NIT. That makes things a little better, right? Hey, at least I tried.