Syracuse Basketball: The Orange’s roadmap to March Madness

Syracuse basketball is down to its final chances at proving to the NCAA Tournament committee why it should be in the Big Dance.

Another year, another bubble watch for Syracuse basketball. It seems like every year the Orange find themselves in this position, and that actually is no imagination. Syracuse has received two double-digit seedings since 2016 and cut it close with an eight seed in 2019. They sat on the bubble in 2017, ultimately only receiving an invitation to the NIT.

This year it’s really no different. The Orange are currently in the ‘First Four Out’ of ESPN’s Joe Lunardi and CBS’s Jerry Palm. Fox’s Mike DeCourcy doesn’t have them listed in the NCAA Tournament or his ‘First Four Out’, but if he had a ‘Next Four Out’, it’s safe to say that’s where Syracuse basketball would be.

But now the playing field has evened out, as bubble teams everywhere are in the same position – conference tournaments. Unfortunately, there’s no say on how much conference tournaments matter for seeding, but they normally mean the most to teams on the bubble looking to separate themselves. And in a COVID-19 impacted world, conference tournaments may even hold more weight, since most teams are below the normal threshold of games played at this point in the season.

Since Syracuse basketball is on the outside looking in, it is important for the Orange to take the ACC Tournament game by game. Of course, this is how every team should look at it and that saying is so much overdone, but it really is the (short) roadmap for ‘Cuse to get into the NCAA Tournament.

Wednesday marks the only game Syracuse is given for the rest of the season, so that’s all the Orange can really focus on right now. It comes against an NC State Wolfpack team that Syracuse has already beaten twice, but defeating a team THREE times in a season is one of the hardest feats to accomplish. But for the Orange, this can’t be an excuse. They need to win that game if they want to stay alive.

A win against NC State most likely won’t be enough for Syracuse to feel safe on the bubble. However, if they follow it up with a win against ACC Tournament 1-seed Virginia on Thursday, SU would most likely move into the field of 68. A win like that is monstrous and at least for the moment would be enough to elevate the Orange’s at-large resume from ‘First Four Out’ to ‘Last Four In’.

On the flip side, a big loss would effectively destroy the Orange’s hopes at making the Big Dance. But a close loss – let’s say a one-possession loss – would at least give Syracuse some hope on Selection Sunday.

If the Orange defeat NC State, Virginia, and advance another round or win the whole ACC Tournament, they are in. Obviously, an ACC Championship would automatically give Syracuse basketball a ticket to the NCAA Tournament, but even a championship appearance would do enough to put SU into the field of 68 with hardly any concern at all when CBS reveals the official bracket.

So simply put, it’s not a hard roadmap for the ‘Cuse to get to the Big Dance! If winning two games is too hard to accomplish, then Syracuse just doesn’t deserve to be in the NCAA Tournament. They put themselves in this position based on their play throughout the season.

But if the Orange can grab at least two wins in the ACC Tournament, it would probably be enough to get Syracuse basketball dancing.