Syracuse Basketball: Orange falls back a bit in latest ESPN bracketology

Syracuse basketball, with its roster for the upcoming season likely set for the most part, has seen seven players from a campaign ago depart, while four have joined the program.

For now, that leaves the Orange with 10 scholarship players. Some veterans, such as junior shooting guard Buddy Boeheim and sophomore point guard Joe Girard III, are returning.

The ‘Cuse has brought in three solid transfers, along with a 2021 five-star commit in forward Benny Williams out of the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

By and large, pre-season prognostications from national pundits deem the Orange a fringe top-25 team, and that sounds about right to me at this juncture.

With the somewhat surprising decision by sophomore forward Quincy Guerrier to continue testing the NBA Draft waters while entering into the transfer portal, that led some observers to drop Syracuse basketball in their pre-season top-25 rankings.

Additionally, ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi has published a new version of his super-early mock field of 68, and he also moved the ‘Cuse down a tad.

Previously, Lunardi had the Orange as a No. 6 seed in the East Region, with the ‘Cuse facing No. 11 seed VCU in the round of 64.

In his new bracketology, Lunardi has kept Syracuse basketball in the East Region, but as a No. 8 seed and suiting up against No. 9 seed LSU in the round of 64.

In the 2020-21 term, the Orange was supposed to play LSU in the Gotham Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City, however, the novel coronavirus pandemic forced the ‘Cuse to revamp the bulk of its non-conference calendar.

Syracuse basketball is situated in a loaded region in the latest ESPN mock bracket.

The East Region in Lunardi’s new bracketology is stacked. Teams here include No. 1 seed Kansas, No. 2 seed Purdue, No. 3 seed Villanova, No. 4 seed Tennessee, No. 5 seed Michigan State, No. 6 seed Virginia Tech, No. 7 seed Oregon, No. 10 seed Florida, No. 11 seed Loyola Chicago, No. 12 seed Richmond in the First Four, fellow Empire State squad and No. 13 seed Colgate, No. 14 seed Northeastern and No. 16 seed Iona, whose head coach is two-time national champion Rick Pitino.

Yikes.

Lunardi’s four No. 1 seeds are 2021 NCAA Tournament finalist Gonzaga, Elite Eight participant Michigan, blue-blood squad Kansas and UCLA, which advanced to the Final Four this past April.

There are eight Atlantic Coast Conference groups in this mock field of 68. They are No. 3 seed Duke, No. 4 seed Florida State, No. 6 seed Virginia Tech, No. 6 seed North Carolina, No. 8 seed Syracuse basketball, No. 8 seed Louisville, No. 9 seed Virginia and No. 10 seed Notre Dame.

Other teams to note are No. 5 seed St. Bonaventure, No. 4 seed Houston, which defeated the Orange in the 2021 Sweet 16, First Four unit and No. 16 seed Bryant, and No. 8 seed West Virginia, a crew that the ‘Cuse beat in the round of 32 to reach the regional semi-finals.