Syracuse Basketball: Ranking the top-10 games for the Orange in 2021-22
By Neil Adler
Baylor
So this game for the ‘Cuse has an assumption associated with it, and I wanted to get that out of the way first.
As we already discussed in the section on VCU, Syracuse basketball is playing in the 2021 Battle 4 Atlantis, with the field also including Arizona State, Auburn, Loyola Chicago, Michigan State, Connecticut, the aforementioned VCU and Baylor.
During this annual pre-season tournament, which takes place over the Thanksgiving holiday from November 24 to November 26 in the Bahamas, the Orange will face the Rams on Wednesday, Nov. 24.
On the same side of the bracket is a contest between Arizona State and Baylor. I’m assuming here that both Syracuse basketball and Baylor will prevail in their opening-round encounters.
I think the likelihood of that occurring is pretty good, so here we have a match-up of the Orange and the Bears, with the winner advancing to the title tilt of the 2021 Battle 4 Atlantis.
Suiting up against Baylor on a neutral court presents a tremendous opportunity, and a tremendous challenge, for the ‘Cuse. For one, the Bears cut down the nets this past spring. Along with Kansas, Baylor is the premier basketball squad in the Big 12 Conference.
In 2020-21, from my perspective, it was Gonzaga and Baylor at the top, and then everybody else a bit further behind. The Bulldogs entered the 2021 NCAA Tournament championship game against the Bears undefeated.
But Baylor totally crushed Gonzaga to claim the national title. The Bears would finish 2020-21 at 28-2 overall and 13-1 in the Big 12.
Now, Baylor did lose some guys to the professional ranks, but the Bears are expected to be a pre-season top-10 group. Pundits seem to think that in the Big 12 race, the top-three teams will prove Baylor, Kansas and Texas.
If somehow, someway, Syracuse basketball could notch a neutral-site success over a top-10 squad, and the defending champs no less, that would be a ridiculously good score for its post-season resume.
Assuming that they do play one another, the Orange and the Bears will go head to head on Thursday, Nov. 25. All-time, Syracuse basketball is 2-1 versus Baylor.
Most recently, though, the Bears dispatched of the ‘Cuse, 78-69, in the 2019 Big Dance’s round of 64. That outcome was a bummer.