SU’s Resume This Year Is Fairly Even With Last Season’s Squad

As we continue to trek towards Selection Sunday, we’ll evaluate the Syracuse basketball team’s resume. Compared to last year, it’s not that much different.

As the Syracuse basketball team and its anxious fan base await Selection Sunday, I figured it might prove timely to examine the Orange’s 2016-17 resume in comparison to that of the ‘Cuse’s 2015-16 campaign.

A year ago, SU snuck into the Big Dance, to the surprise of many college-basketball pundits, with Jim Boeheim & Co. then advancing all the way to the Final Four.

Fast-forward to the present, and Syracuse is in an eerily similar circumstance.

Winning its opening-round ACC Tournament tilt this past Wednesday afternoon versus Miami likely would have sealed the deal as it pertains to a March Madness invite, but we all know that didn’t happen.

Therefore, myself and many other ‘Cuse faithful will have to sweat things out for the next few

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days.

The same predicament transpired in March of 2016. The Orange had the opportunity to virtually lock up a bid by besting Pittsburgh at the ACC Tourney in Washington, D.C., but SU didn’t get it done. Our boys lost by a point. Still, when Selection Sunday came around, Syracuse heard its name called.

The 2015-16 group sported a mark of 19-13 following that setback to the Panthers (and Boeheim had to sit out nine affairs, an interval during which Mike Hopkins went 4-5). The current bunch, after falling victim to the Hurricanes, is 18-14.

So, slightly better last year.

By 3 pm on Friday afternoon, the CBS Sports Web site listed the ‘Cuse’s RPI at 86. Over at ESPN.com, it is 84. Split the difference, and we’ll call it 85. That’s pretty sub-par. But, in all fairness, I get the sense that the NCAA Selection Committee is relying less and less on RPI as a key metric. Maybe that’s a good thing.

For context, Syracuse’s RPI of 72 a year ago represented the highest ever for an outfit that secured an at-large berth to the Big Dance since the field grew to 68. The Orange made history then, and, if it’s to land a bid this time around, it will have to make history yet again.

Sweet.

Let’s take a look at several more benchmarks. SU accumulated a 9-9 ACC record in 2015-16, landing it in a tie for ninth place. In 2016-17, the ‘Cuse finished one game better, at 10-8, which resulted in a tie for seventh place.

The Atlantic Coast Conference is widely considered the most-competitive league this season, and generating 10 successes does work in the Orange’s favor.

We’ve already documented that Syracuse got defeated in the initial round of the conference tourney in each stanza. That’s a wash.

In the non-conference slate, a year ago SU beat two ranked teams, Connecticut and Texas A&M, on a neutral floor. The ‘Cuse collected a 10-3 mark before ACC play commenced.

The present squad executed Boeheim’s worst out-of-conference performance in his 41 years at the helm, going 8-5. No stellar triumphs. Its best achievement? A conquest of Monmouth inside the Carrier Dome.

Advantage, 2015-16.

Also, last year’s version went a respectable 6-9 in battles on the road or at neutral sites, including those victories over Texas A&M and UConn, as well as getting past No. 20 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

In 2016-17, the Orange owned a record of 2-11 when it left Central New York, and those two wins came in overtime at N.C. State, and on a buzzer-beater at Clemson.

Needless to say, that’s pretty pathetic. In the current term, SU had two additional home clashes, and still ended up with a poorer overall mark.

Where this campaign does have a leg to stand on is its three top-10 victories, against Duke, Florida State and Virginia. In 2015-16, Syracuse notched wins over four top-25 teams – Connecticut, Duke and Texas A&M, as well as Notre Dame. But no accomplishments versus those ranked in the top 10.

Total successes against squads in the RPI top 50 are nearly identical in the past two seasons.

The bottom line is that the ‘Cuse’s 2016-17 resume is, in many ways, relatively even with the 2015-16 roster. College-hoops experts say this year’s bubble is weaker than a season ago, so perhaps that bodes well for the Orange.

It wouldn’t surprise me if SU is slotted in the NCAA Tournament’s First Four, or goes to the NIT. I recognize that many in the Syracuse community will feel disappointed if our guys don’t make March Madness, but it’s really a toss-up.

Next: Rapid Reaction: SU Remains Winless In The ACC Tournament, 62-57

Whatever occurs, let’s hold our heads up high, ‘Cuse Nation!

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