Syracuse Basketball: Postponed games hampering Big Dance chances

When word broke on Wednesday afternoon that the Syracuse basketball contest scheduled for that evening at Louisville had gotten postponed due to Covid-19 protocols, I could feel the collective sigh from a bevy of Orange fans on social media.

Not again. Cancel the season. A rough break for the ‘Cuse. There go the Orange’s March Madness chances. What the heck? Those were just some of the responses from my fellow Syracuse basketball fanatics.

The 2020-21 campaign is a season unlike any other for the Orange and its peers around the country amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, and let’s be clear: the ‘Cuse isn’t the only squad that is having to deal with multiple game postponements, missed practices and hoops-related pauses.

However, it does feel like Syracuse basketball is catching a really unfortunate break as it pertains to trying to drum up enough marquee successes to gain entry into this spring’s NCAA Tournament.

Without question, if the Orange (12-6, 6-5) had already taken care of business against a few high-quality foes earlier in the present term, whether that is Clemson, North Carolina, Virginia or Rutgers, then maybe the ‘Cuse isn’t even on the proverbial bubble at this juncture.

That being said, the halting of the Orange’s Atlantic Coast Conference clash on the road versus Louisville this past Wednesday night marks the fifth postponed encounter for Syracuse basketball.

Per a cuse.com press release, “The postponement follows a positive test, subsequent quarantining, and contact tracing within the Louisville men’s basketball program.”

Of course, we all want everyone associated with the Cardinals team to stay safe, but this is frustrating for sure. So far in 2020-21, Orange battles with Louisville (twice), Clemson, Florida State and Wake Forest have been postponed.

Wake Forest isn’t terrific this year, but the rest of those games were opportunities for the ‘Cuse to potentially notch several resume-boosting achievements.

Syracuse basketball has been dealt a tough hand with game postponements.

For now, the Orange has ACC duels remaining in the regular stanza with Notre Dame and North Carolina on the Hill, as well as road contests against Duke and Georgia Tech.

There is the possibility that the ‘Cuse could see some games made up, as head coach Jim Boeheim told Mike Waters of Syracuse.com. Waters reports in his article, according to Boeheim, that the Orange could get a contest scheduled “during the last week of the regular season.”

Additionally, Syracuse basketball may have the chance to suit up for a game “on the final Saturday of the regular season,” Waters writes in his piece.

There was never realistically going to be a scenario where the Orange could make up all of its postponed affairs, particularly as the 2020-21 regular campaign winds down.

However, if the ‘Cuse could schedule one or two encounters versus quadrant-one or quadrant-two foes, that would prove huge as the team attempts to navigate a topsy-turvy year and go dancing in March.

Naturally, Syracuse basketball would have to prevail in that extra game or games for it to mean anything at all.