Syracuse basketball is not in Dick Vitale top 40, but Northern Iowa is?

Syracuse basketball didn’t make the cut when noted analyst Dick Vitale recently unveiled his pre-season top 40.

Once again, Syracuse basketball is flying under the radar screen as another campaign inches closer and head coach Jim Boeheim prepares his players for his 45th stanza at the helm of the Orange.

Boeheim, without question, has endured some sub-par regular seasons since the ‘Cuse joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2013-14. A term ago, Syracuse basketball likely would have missed the Big Dance, before March Madness got canceled due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

With the 2020-21 season less than a month away, the bevy of national pundits who have published their pre-season prognostications are not inserting the Orange into their ballots, although the ‘Cuse has received some love from ESPN’s resident bracketologist, Joe Lunardi.

Dick Vitale, the long-time and well-respected college basketball analyst, recently disclosed his pre-season top 40, and he doesn’t have Syracuse basketball on his list. I understand if analysts, commentators and journalists don’t foresee the Orange as a top-25 team, but not having the ‘Cuse in the top 40 is a tad ridiculous.

Veteran analyst Dick Vitale doesn’t think that Syracuse basketball is a top-40 squad in 2020-21.

Vitale’s top 10, in order, is Gonzaga, Villanova, Baylor, Virginia, Wisconsin, Kansas, Michigan State, Texas Tech, Duke and Tennessee.

Besides the Cavaliers and the Blue Devils at No. 4 and at No. 9, respectively, other ACC units in Vitale’s top 40 are No. 14 Florida State, No. 15 North Carolina and No. 26 Louisville. I also have these ACC teams as the five best in the league, followed by the Orange at No. 6.

What puzzles me a little bit is that Vitale’s rankings include, for example, No. 29 Richmond, No. 35 Connecticut, No. 37 Providence and No. 40 Northern Iowa.

I’m not, in any way, shape or form, disrespecting these groups or others in Vitale’s ratings. But I adamantly disagree that Richmond, Connecticut, Providence and Northern Iowa, among others, are better teams than the ‘Cuse.

If I had to place Syracuse basketball, I would have the Orange in the No. 24 to No. 32 range across the country.