Syracuse Basketball: Dissecting the 2018-19 ACC basketball schedule

The Atlantic Coast Conference has revealed match-ups for each of its 15 members, so we take a look at the Syracuse basketball squad’s foes.

The SU hoops outfit, during the next campaign, will attempt to build upon its scintillating and surprising Sweet 16 run in the recently concluded 2018 NCAA Tournament.

How the Orange will ultimately fare remains a mystery, but now we do know which opponents the ‘Cuse will battle in the conference portion of its 2018-19 slate.

That’s because the ACC has announced the 18 conference clashes for every program within the league, although specific dates and times for these affairs will get released over the summer, according to this press release.

In terms of Syracuse, head coach Jim Boeheim’s bunch in 2018-19 will have home and road tilts with Boston College, Clemson, Duke and Pittsburgh.

SU will host Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami and Virginia. Finally, the Orange will travel to N.C. State, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.

All in all, I think that this is a challenging conference line-up for the ‘Cuse. At the same juncture,

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given how Syracuse’s roster is shaping up for this coming fall, I have every confidence that our boys in Central New York will improve from their 8-10 ACC mark a stanza ago.

10 to 12 conference conquests, in my humble opinion, are totally do-able. Of course, some of this depends on whether sophomore wing Tyus Battle returns for his junior stint.

For the teams that will encounter SU both at the Carrier Dome and their own venues, Boston College is certainly solid, but not terribly imposing. Pittsburgh is in a complete rebuild. Clemson should hover around the top 25, yet we did beat the Tigers on the Hill this past go-round.

Duke, meanwhile, is likely going to start 2018-19 as the No. 1 or No. 2 group in the country. The Blue Devils, in the 2018 recruiting class, possess the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 prospects. That’s honestly insane and not even fair.

Clemson, the ‘Cuse, Duke and Florida State earned berths in the regional semi-finals of the 2018 Big Dance, I’d like to point out as a frame of reference.

Speaking of the Seminoles, they are among those which the Orange will only face off with in CNY. My gut tells me that of the five in this category, SU has a great opportunity to defeat FSU, GT, UL, which is getting a huge make-over under new head coach Chris Mack, and UM.

UVA, on the other hand, will prove a tough one to crack, regardless of the fact that the Cavaliers, as the No. 1 overall seed, fell in the first round of the 2018 March Madness to a No. 16 seed, UMBC. Still, Virginia will probably end up inside the top-10 rankings of many pre-season polls.

A primary reason why Syracuse amounted to the final school receiving an at-large bid to this last NCAA tourney is due to its decent number of road victories. In 2018-19, SU’s duels away from the Dome are darn daunting.

UNC, by my estimation, figures as a crew that will stick around the top 10-15. I assume that the ‘Cuse will lose to the Tar Heels. I don’t have terrific reads on the Fighting Irish or the Wolfpack at this point, but it’s worth noting that we experienced setbacks to N.C. State and ND – at home – in 2017-18.

A lot of prognosticators have put the Hokies in the top 15 of their pre-season rankings, so prevailing in Blacksburg, Va., will prove extremely difficult.

I don’t expect the Demon Deacons to have a super-strong squad, but Danny Manning can coach, and WF won against SU earlier this year.

Next: Syracuse Football: NFL Draft stock update on top Orange prospects

If we could score a minimum of four or five road successes in ACC competition, that would go a long way toward boosting the Orange’s Big Dance resume!

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