Syracuse Basketball: Virginia Cavaliers crystal ball predictions

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: Mamadi Diakite #25 of the Virginia Cavaliers reacts against the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the first half during the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

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Joe Arrigo, contributor (0-0)

Final score:

Virginia 63 Syracuse 59

Syracuse basketball has arrived in the 315! Okay now that I got that out of my system, I must say I’m more excited for this season than I have in past years.

Frank Howard, Tyus Battle, and Ohsae Brissett gave the Orange some great memories, but I’m anxious to see a new era begin. Quite frankly, Syracuse basketball has disappointed me the past few years.

I’m not blaming those three players for the losses, but they were the core of our offense. Now, we have new players and I expect the offense to play much different this season. Maybe in a year or two, this group can take Syracuse back to the top of college basketball.

As for the Virginia game, this is the best time for Syracuse to beat the Cavaliers. Tony Bennett has a brand new team after losing DeAndre Hunter, Ty Jerome, and Kyle Guy to the NBA. Their defense hasn’t had the in-game reps to be as good as a normal Virginia team would have been.

Nobody knows who is going to win this game, not even Jim Boeheim. I’ll take Virginia to win solely because they have built an amazing program, but I’ll be rooting for Syracuse every step of the way!

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