After a 75-61 win over Boston College yesterday, Syracuse basketball moved to 18-8 on the season and have won five straight games and eight of their last nine.
Yet with all of that winning, does Syracuse basketball find itself in the top 25? Nope. In fact, they’ve received just 17 votes in the latest AP poll, putting them at a pedestrian 33rd in the country. The coaches poll is even worse, with SU garnering just three votes for 41st nationally.
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I know that the polls don’t matter at this point in the season, but it still baffles me how much disrespect this team has gotten after performing near flawlessly over the past several weeks.
To put things in perspective, let’s take a look at a team that’s currently in the top 25 with nine losses, one more than SU. That team is Texas. Yes, Texas has some quality wins, including those over West Virginia, North Carolina, Utah, Iowa State, and Baylor. They also have losses to 15-10 Washington, 15-9 Texas Tech, and probably the most egregious, 11-14 TCU. They’ve also lost two consecutive games, yet still remain a top 25 team.
Syracuse basketball, conversely, is trending positively. They’ve beaten Florida State, Notre Dame, and Duke in their past seven games. They also have quality wins over UConn and Texas A&M. Yet for whatever reason, they remain outside the top 25 even though they have two more wins and one less loss.
And it’s not like the ACC is an easy conference. If things hold to form, there could be nine teams that make the NCAA tourney from the ACC. The Big 12 will have six at best. Yes it’s a smaller conference, but it’s no more competitive than the ACC. It has it’s great teams and it’s bottom feeders.
What it all boils down to is that Syracuse basketball has been disrespected most of the season. They came into the year receiving zero votes in either poll. After winning six straight and a Battle 4 Atlantis title things changed and they finally got their due, but were then forced to go through a nine game stretch without their head coach in which they went 4-5.
Since Boeheim has returned, the team has found lightning in a bottle on both ends of the court and proven once again that they can beat any team in the country on any given night. Even so, they fly under the radar and out of the spotlight.
Perhaps that’s not such a bad thing though, as it certainly takes some of the pressure off the team and allows them to play with confidence and a chip on their shoulder.
Next: Syracuse Basketball: What the Fans are Saying
One thing is for certain, if Syracuse basketball keeps playing the way they have been for the past few weeks, they are going to start to get noticed. They have a crucial five games left in ACC play in which they will face two top 25 teams and two others who could make the NCAA tournament.
A strong finish will go a long way in showing the rest of college basketball that Syracuse basketball is for real. Check back later in the week for a preview of the Louisville game on the 17th as well as some more insight on the team as it stands now.