Syracuse Basketball: Orange is absolutely a legitimate title contender

The Syracuse basketball squad has a decent chance at cutting down the nets in early April, according to one well-known journalist at CBS Sports.

As the ‘Cuse hoops outfit gets set to host Le Moyne Wednesday night in an exhibition encounter, with the 2018-19 regular season only a few days away, the buzz is definitely brewing about our boys on the Hill.

The Orange finds itself ranked in an abundance of pre-season top-25 polls, and expectations are clearly high. But despite a ton of lofty praise among the sport’s pundits, is Syracuse really a legit team to reach the 2019 Final Four?

I believe so, and it seems that CBS Sports senior writer Matt Norlander agrees. Earlier this week, he published an interesting piece on the 16 groups, which he slotted into various tiers, that he thinks have a “realistic shot” at capturing the NCAA Tournament next April.

Naturally, Norlander has many of the usual suspects on his list, including Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, North Carolina, Villanova and Virginia.

SU, it turns out, also made the cut. Norlander placed the ‘Cuse in the “dark horses” category. He describes these units as those “not being put in the national championship conversation even though they’ve all got the coaching and veteran presence to win six straight in March.”

"Here is Norlander’s breakdown of the Orange: “I haven’t been bullish on Syracuse teams in the preseason over the past five or six years, but I’m very in on this group. Jim Boeheim’s brought back his most important pieces — and now he’s a bit ticked off that Darius Bazley reneged on his SU commitment to, ultimately, get paid by LeBron James’ agency and wait out this season ahead of the 2019 draft. I can already see Syracuse’s season going so well to the point it’s eventually asked how good this team would be if Bazley had kept on with the Orange. Tyus Battle, Oshae Brissett and Frank Howard form the nucleus on a team that can make a jump from just-OK to pretty-dang-good on offense. Defensively, expect the Orange and that zone to be its typical formidable self. Paschal Chukwu’s a hair below 7-2 and will have the best season of his college career this year. Freshman name to know: Jalen Carey.”"

In case you are wondering, Norlander’s two other dark horses are Auburn and Kansas State. His assessment of SU, in my humble opinion, is spot on. Given our current roster, I feel that the ‘Cuse will compete for a top-four finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference, earn a strong seed in the Big Dance, and make a run to at least the Elite Eight in March Madness.

I’m not making these juicy prognostications simply because I’m a homer. It’s what my gut is telling me.

On a separate note, CBS Sports has revealed its pre-season All-America selections, and Battle, the 6-6 junior wing, is on the second team. As we reported yesterday, he’s also on ESPN.com’s pre-season All-America first squad. College basketball is about to kick into high gear, and I can’t wait to see the Orange hit the court!