Syracuse basketball ‘is about out of time and chances,’ expert says

After Syracuse basketball dropped its second in a row, a seven-point setback at Georgia Tech this past Saturday afternoon, a large contingent of Orange fans declared on social media that the ‘Cuse has virtually no shot at reaching the 2021 Big Dance.

Syracuse basketball has two home games left in its 2020-21 regular season, against North Carolina on Monday night and versus Clemson on March 3, and then the Orange will head to the ACC Tournament.

On Monday afternoon, the ‘Cuse (13-8, 7-7) is basically off of the bubble on the Bracket Matrix Web site. Syracuse basketball presently checks in at No. 56, according to the NET rankings, with no quadrant-one victories.

It’s likely that the UNC contest will end up as a quadrant-two affair, although the Orange’s match-up with the Tigers on Wednesday could amount to a quadrant-one duel if Clemson improves a tad in the NET ratings.

We should point out that Syracuse basketball is a stellar 11-1 in this stanza at the Carrier Dome, with its only loss on the Hill a defeat at the hands of Pittsburgh in early January. That was a bad showing from the Orange, by the way.

If the ‘Cuse can somehow capture its next two encounters, then maybe that can breathe some new life into the team as it pertains to the 2021 March Madness picture.

Syracuse basketball faces a daunting task against the Tar Heels on Monday evening.

In an article on March 1, CBS Sports bracketologist Jerry Palm discusses some bubble squads in action on Monday. Naturally, both North Carolina and the Orange are included in this piece.

"Here’s what Palm had to say about the ‘Cuse and the 2021 NCAA Tournament. “Syracuse is about out of time and chances. The Orange are 0-6 in Quad 1 games, all on the road, and were swept by Pitt. It’s going to take more than their win over Virginia Tech to counteract that. Ideally, they could get a quality win away from home, but that cannot happen until the ACC Tournament.”"

Without question, the Orange has dealt with some unfortunate circumstances, as Covid-19 protocols resulted in a few game postponements that took away quadrant-one chances for the ‘Cuse.

At the same time, Syracuse basketball has proven unable to notch successes against numerous high-quality teams on the road in 2020-21, and that ultimately could be the primary reason for the Orange not dancing later this month.