Syracuse basketball may need to win out in regular term for tourney berth

Syracuse basketball has a half-dozen contests left in its 2020-21 regular season, unless some games that previously got postponed due to Covid-19 protocols are made up.

The Orange (11-6, 5-5) hosts Boston College this Saturday afternoon. The ‘Cuse has two additional home affairs versus Notre Dame and North Carolina, as well as road clashes against Louisville, Duke and Georgia Tech.

The Orange’s victory at N.C. State earlier this week is a positive step forward, although the ‘Cuse is still without a quadrant-one success, according to the team’s NET rankings profile.

In a recent Zoom call with media members, according to a report by Donna Ditota of Syracuse.com, Orange sophomore forward Quincy Guerrier said in part, “I think everyone’s working hard and we know that we need to win all of our games to put ourselves in March Madness.”

Syracuse basketball must get on a run to hear its name called on Selection Sunday.

Of course, assuming the ACC Tournament does proceed as planned next month, the Orange will also have opportunities at that event to pick up additional marquee achievements.

But based on what the ‘Cuse has left on its regular-stanza docket, Guerrier may prove right. If Syracuse basketball wins out in the regular term, that puts the squad at 17-6, which is a solid overall mark.

I don’t see how the Orange wouldn’t gain an at-large berth to March Madness with that sort of record. Then again, I don’t foresee the ‘Cuse rattling off six in a row to culminate the regular campaign.

Even if Syracuse basketball can go 5-1, that gets the Orange to 16-7 prior to the ACC Tournament getting underway. The ‘Cuse, in that scenario, should still feel good about its Big Dance chances.

Anything “worse” than that down the home stretch, such as a 15-8 or 14-9 total record, and I believe that the Orange will have work to do in the ACC tourney.

Virtually all of the primary bracketologists have the ‘Cuse on the outside looking in for now. One of the main dilemmas for Syracuse basketball is that the ACC is a bit jumbled this year, with Duke struggling and UNC sub-par by its historical standards, among other examples.

In past stanzas, the Orange may have boasted more opportunities at high-quality conquests, and several of its postponed games in 2020-21 also would represent potential resume enhancements.

Through encounters on Feb. 10, the ‘Cuse checked in at No. 49 via the NET ratings. Syracuse basketball is 9-1 on the Hill, 2-5 on the road, 0-5 in quadrant one, and 11-1 in quadrants two to four.

The Orange is also No. 54 at kenpom.com as of Thursday night. The ‘Cuse doesn’t have a ton of impressive wins, but the same is true of its losses, as none of them are really awful.

What Syracuse basketball needs to do for the rest of the regular season is stack up a bunch of ACC triumphs and get into the win column in quadrant one. That will put the Orange into a position to go dancing in March.