Syracuse Basketball: Ranking the top-10 games for the Orange in 2021-22

Florida State

A stanza ago, highly rated Florida State was supposed to visit the Dome, providing the Orange with a golden chance to pick up a marquee win for its post-season resume.

However, amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, that game scheduled for early January was halted due to Covid-19 protocols.

The Seminoles, perhaps the premier ACC squad over the past two seasons, would finish with an 18–7 record in 2020-21, including an 11–4 mark in ACC competition that was good for second place in the league, behind Virginia.

In the 2021 NCAA Tournament, FSU would get to the Sweet 16, where it would lose to No. 1 seed Michigan. The Seminoles and Syracuse basketball, by the way, were the only ACC teams to advance to the regional semifinals this past spring.

The year prior, the pandemic forced the ACC Tournament and the Big Dance to get canceled, but Florida State went an excellent 26–5 overall, captured the league’s regular-season crown and was in a position to possibly earn a No. 1 seed in March Madness.

Head coach Leonard Hamilton has been exquisite of late in guiding FSU. He recruits well, and the coaching staff in Tallahassee, Fla., does an amazing job of developing players.

Hamilton seems to always have a deep bench, and he also recruits a lot of extremely tall and lengthy players. The Seminoles have sent numerous guys to the NBA in recent campaigns, and for my money, Hamilton is one of the most underrated head coaches nationwide at the collegiate level.

Syracuse basketball, which has fallen on three-consecutive occasions to Florida State, will host the Seminoles in 2021-22 on Saturday, Jan. 15.

All-time, the ‘Cuse is 7-5 versus FSU. The Dome should be rocking and rolling for this ACC bout. I could foresee Florida State seriously making a run at another conference regular-season prize, with perhaps Duke and North Carolina the other two main contenders.

National analysts and writers are prognosticating that the Seminoles are a pre-season top-20 team. If FSU comes to the Hill ranked that high, Syracuse basketball needs to take advantage of the home crowd and come away with a win.