Syracuse Basketball: Plenty of upcoming chances for quadrant-one wins

Despite a career-high 25 points (and 11 rebounds) from senior center Jesse Edwards, Syracuse basketball couldn’t capitalize on a juicy opportunity to pick up a coveted quadrant-one win on Monday night against No. 17 Miami down in the Sunshine State.

Much as a season ago, the ‘Cuse had a double-digit lead over the Hurricanes, only to come up short. Perhaps Miami, at least lately, is simply the Orange’s kryptonite.

This time around, down the stretch in the second half, Miami (15-3, 6-2 in the ACC) hit some key 3-point shots, pounded the offensive glass, got to the free-throw line in droves, and turned the ‘Cuse over at inopportune times.

It’s a tough pill to swallow, as the Orange fell in heart-breaking fashion to the Hurricanes, 82-78, but now Syracuse basketball (12-7, 5-3) has to regroup and get ready for a road game at Georgia Tech in Atlanta this coming Saturday afternoon.

Syracuse basketball blew an 11-point lead at No. 17 Miami on Monday evening.

At this juncture in the 2022-23 campaign, the ‘Cuse isn’t even close to the proverbial bubble for this spring’s Big Dance. Sure, a 5-3 mark in Atlantic Coast Conference competition is solid, but as we noted in another recent column, the Orange had a really poor non-conference strength of schedule.

So if Syracuse basketball has any hope of potentially hearing its name called on Selection Sunday, then the ‘Cuse is going to have to notch some quadrant-one victories moving forward. Given the loss to Miami, that won’t necessarily be easy, but the Orange does appear to have a lot of quad-one opportunities remaining on its 2022-23 slate.

Syracuse basketball, at present, has 12 regular-season contests left in 2022-23. Based on the NCAA NET rankings of its upcoming foes, I’m counting seven games, at least for the time being, that could provide the ‘Cuse with chances to secure quadrant-one successes.

By the way, as it pertains to the NET ratings and the quadrant system, here’s a good article on the topic. A quadrant-one victory is defined as follows as it pertains to the Orange’s opponents:
Home: 1-30
Neutral Site: 1-50
Road: 1-75

At the time of this writing, for context, Syracuse basketball had a NET ranking of No. 106 (Miami was at No. 39 – ugh).

The ‘Cuse doesn’t play any more encounters on a neutral court until the 2023 ACC Tournament, which will take place from March 7 to March 11 in Greensboro, N.C.

See below for the Orange’s dozen remaining regular-season foes, along with their NET rating when I wrote this column. The opponents in bold are ones who may provide Syracuse basketball with future opportunities at quadrant-one triumphs, although that is of course subject to change as the 2022-23 stanza carries onward.

Given that the ‘Cuse just went down to the wire versus the No. 17 squad in the country, Syracuse basketball can certainly contend for victories in these upcoming quadrant-one games. But contending, and winning, are two different stories.

January 21 at Georgia Tech
NET: No. 155

January 24 vs. North Carolina
NET: No. 33

January 28 at Virginia Tech
NET: No. 55

January 30 vs. Virginia
NET: No. 15

February 4 at Boston College
NET: No. 226

February 8 at Florida State
NET: No. 227

February 14 vs. N.C. State
NET: No. 28

February 18 vs. Duke
NET: No. 25

February 22 at Clemson
NET: No. 49

February 25 at Pittsburgh
NET: No. 58

February 28 vs. Georgia Tech
NET: No. 155

March 4 vs. Wake Forest
NET: No. 75