Syracuse basketball fans are frustrated. Some are fed up. I get the sentiments. I really do. This stinks.
The Orange suffered a bad, bad loss on Saturday afternoon at lowly Boston College. Credit the Eagles for prevailing, 81-73, in overtime, but make no mistake about it. The 'Cuse gave this one away. Way too many turnovers. Not-so-good free-throw shooting. A lack of energy and intensity, especially in the extra period.
Sure, some of this falls on head coach Adrian Autry and his staff. But this also falls on the players. Sophomore power forward Donnie Freeman and junior point guard Naithan George each had seven turnovers. Freeman missed the front-end of a one-and-one that could have potentially sealed the game for the Orange.
However, I'll say this: Even after Freeman missed that initial free throw in the contest's waning seconds in regulation, with Syracuse basketball up three points, why didn't the 'Cuse foul Boston College to prevent a game-tying 3-pointer, which the Eagles would ultimately hit?
Frustrating, to say the least.
Syracuse basketball could ill-afford that setback at Boston College.
As the Orange prepares to host Virginia Tech on Wednesday night at the JMA Wireless Dome, the 'Cuse resides at 12-6 overall and 3-2 in Atlantic Coast Conference competition. A few days ago, Syracuse basketball made it to No. 60 in the NCAA NET rankings.
On Sunday, when I wrote this article, the Orange's NET ranking had tumbled to No. 75 overall, which is way below where the team needs to be to have any sort of realistic shot at making the 2026 NCAA Tournament. Currently, the 'Cuse has more quadrant-three losses (two) than quadrant-one wins (one).
Yes, Syracuse basketball has a flood of quadrant-one and quadrant-two opportunities coming up, however, how is the Orange going to win any of those games if it can't even beat Boston College (8-10 overall, 1-4 in the ACC)?
That's the thought-process of many 'Cuse fans right now. Following Saturday's debacle, the mood on social media and in chat rooms was depressing. Some fans want Autry fired now. Many fans think the 2025-26 season is over, and the Orange has no shot at hearing its name called on Selection Sunday for the first time since 2021.
Ugh. This is not fun.
Autry had a tough job succeeding the Hall of Famer, Jim Boeheim, who has the second-most career wins as a head coach in Division I men's basketball history. Autry went 20-12 in his first season, 14-19 last year and is 12-6 at this juncture in 2025-26.
That's an overall record of 46-37, which isn't great. I'm not in the camp of wanting Autry to be let go right now. I question some of his head coaching decisions. But I also don't put the blame on him for the Orange committing so many miscues and not being able to make free throws.
Hopefully, the 'Cuse can get back on track against the Hokies later this week. Saturday was a bummer day for the Syracuse basketball fan base.