After Syracuse basketball pulled off a monstrous 72-70 victory against bruising North Carolina on Monday night in Central New York, junior shooting guard Buddy Boeheim said that the Orange still has work to do if it wants to re-enter the conversation for an invite to the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
I agree with Boeheim, although the ‘Cuse triumph against the Tar Heels cannot be discounted. ESPN’s resident bracketologist, Joe Lunardi, updated his mock field of 68 on March 2, and he now has the Orange (14-8, 8-7) in his next four out category, along with Saint Louis, SMU and Memphis.
Over on the Bracket Matrix Web site, as of March 1, the ‘Cuse is barely getting any mentions as far as the upcoming Big Dance is concerned.
However, with Clemson coming to town on Wednesday, Syracuse basketball does have an opportunity to close out its 2020-21 regular term on a roll heading into the ACC Tournament.
The Atlantic Coast Conference, by the way, is highly represented in Lunardi’s bubble department. Besides the Orange, Louisville is in Lunardi’s last four byes, Georgia Tech is among the last four in, and Duke is part of the first four out.
Syracuse basketball, if it keeps winning, can get back on the bubble.
Following the ‘Cuse conquest of UNC, CBS Sports’ Kyle Boone wrote in an article that the Orange “stays alive.” Boone adds, “There’s a long list of teams on the bubble, and Syracuse’s 72-70 win over North Carolina did well enough to keep it in that discussion.”
This is something to monitor. For the NET rankings updated through games on March 1, Syracuse basketball now possesses a quadrant-one success, at least for the time being.
That’s because the ‘Cuse beat N.C. State on the road, and the Wolfpack presently checks in at No. 75 in the NET ratings. Syracuse basketball is No. 55 in these rankings, which isn’t super great nor awful.
Here’s the break-down for the Orange. The ‘Cuse is 12-1 at home and 2-7 on the road. Syracuse basketball is 8-7 in ACC competition and 6-1 in the non-conference slate.
The Orange is 1-6 in quadrant one, 4-7 in quadrant one/two, and 10-1 in quadrant three/four. All of the team’s setbacks are on the road, except for an ugly loss to Pittsburgh inside the Carrier Dome earlier this season.
The Tigers, with a NET of No. 33, are hovering close to a quadrant-one opportunity for the ‘Cuse. If Syracuse basketball can take care of Clemson on Wednesday and land several neutral-site victories in the ACC Tournament, then the Orange will have made a somewhat reasonable case to hear its name called on Selection Sunday.