Syracuse Basketball: ‘Cuse did something this season that it hasn’t done in a decade

As Syracuse basketball prepares for next week’s ACC Tournament in Washington, D.C., the Orange must regroup after failing to get a quadrant-one victory this past Tuesday night against Clemson on the road.

The Tigers are one of the better teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season, and Clemson will be getting an invite to this spring’s NCAA Tournament.

There was no shame in the ‘Cuse falling on senior night to the Tigers, albeit by 15 points. Syracuse basketball battled tough, but every time that the Orange would get within striking distance, Clemson had an answer, whether it was knocking down 3-pointers or scoring in the paint.

In any event, the ‘Cuse is still playing solid basketball these days. Prior to its league affair versus the Tigers, the Orange had won four straight and six of eight.

Syracuse basketball has 20 regular-season triumphs for the first time in a long time.

National pundits seem to think that Syracuse basketball must win the upcoming ACC Tournament to hear its name called on Selection Sunday after a two-year absence from the annual March Madness. Candidly, at this juncture, the 'Cuse simply doesn't own enough quadrant-one successes, and its NET ranking is sub-par.

Regardless of whether the Orange does make the 2024 NCAA Tournament, this ‘Cuse roster did something during the 2023-24 regular season that Syracuse basketball hasn’t done in 10 years.

To me, that shows the program, under first-year head coach Adrian Autry, is trending in the right direction. The Orange faced a tough non-conference schedule this term, and Autry has had to deal with a depleted roster due to injuries and other issues.

Still, following the completion of its 2023-24 regular season earlier this week, Syracuse basketball resided at 20-11 overall, including a 9-2 non-conference mark and an 11-9 record in conference encounters.

The ‘Cuse doesn’t yet know its seeding for the ACC Tournament, but SU can finish no worse than No. 7. Depending on what Pittsburgh and Wake Forest do during their final regular-season meetings this weekend, the Orange could move as high as No. 5 in the league standings.

Considering that the ACC’s preseason media poll forecast Syracuse basketball to finish at No. 10 in the conference, I’d say that Autry and his relatively young roster have done a remarkable job in 2023-24.

What’s more, this season marks the first time since the 2018-19 campaign that the Orange has notched at least 20 victories (see below for SU’s records over the last 11 seasons).

Taking it a step further, the last instance where the ‘Cuse amassed at least 20 wins in the regular season was in 2013-14, the inaugural stanza for Syracuse basketball in the ACC after departing the Big East Conference.

Therefore, this term, the Orange got to 20 regular-season triumphs, under a first-year and a first-time head coach, for the first occasion in a decade.

One, naturally, could counter that this illustrates how the ‘Cuse has struggled since joining the ACC, at least as far as regular-season performances are concerned. That’s fair.

But Autry just took over the program in 2023-24. And he helped lead the Orange to 20 regular-season wins for the first time in 10 campaigns. Not too shabby, in my humble opinion.

2023-24
20-11 overall (9-2 in non-conference, 11-9 in ACC)

2022-23
17-15 overall (7-4 in non-conference, 10-10 in ACC, 0-1 in ACC Tournament)

2021-22
16-17 overall (6-5 in non-conference, 9-11 in ACC, 1-1 in ACC Tournament)

2020-21
18-10 (6-1 in non-conference, 9-7 in ACC, 1-1 in ACC Tournament, 2-1 in NCAA Tournament)
NCAA Tournament Sweet 16

2019-20
18-14 overall (7-4 in non-conference, 10-10 in ACC, 1-0 in ACC Tournament)

2018-19
20-14 overall (9-4 in non-conference, 10-8 in the ACC, 1-1 in ACC Tournament, 0-1 in NCAA Tournament)
NCAA Tournament round of 64

2017-18
23-14 overall (11-2 in non-conference, 8-10 in ACC, 1-1 in ACC Tournament, 3-1 in NCAA Tournament)
NCAA Tournament Sweet 16

2016-17
19-15 overall (8-5 in non-conference, 10-8 in ACC, 0-1 in ACC Tournament, 1-1 in NIT)
NIT second round

2015-16
23-14 overall (10-3 in non-conference, 9-9 in ACC, 0-1 in ACC Tournament, 4-1 in NCAA Tournament)
NCAA Tournament Final Four

2014-15
18-13 overall (9-4 in non-conference, 9-9 in ACC)

2013-14
28-6 overall (13-0 in non-conference, 14-4 in ACC, 0-1 in NCAA Tournament, 1-1 in NCAA Tournament)
NCAA Tournament round of 32