Syracuse Orange News: Jon Rothstein dishes on ACC and March Madness, ice hockey honor

In this latest go-round of Syracuse Orange sports news, we start with Syracuse basketball, which will begin its 2024-25 season in less than a month.

The 'Cuse is looking to get back to the NCAA Tournament after three consecutive absences from March Madness. A campaign ago, Adrian Autry in his first term as the Orange's head coach guided the team to 20 regular-season wins for the first time in a decade.

Now Autry and his program will look to take the next step, and hear their name called on Selection Sunday come the spring of 2025. To that end, college basketball insider Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports noted in a recent column that the ACC would greatly benefit from schools such as Syracuse basketball making a return to the NCAA Tournament.

Rothstein writes: "The ACC — who had three teams in the Elite Eight last March — has performed exceptionally well during March Madness. However, the ACC has only had five of its 15 teams reach each of the past three NCAA Tournaments. Why is this? The league has not gotten great mileage out of its marquee brands. Since 2021, Syracuse, Louisville, and Florida State have not been a part of March Madness. Notre Dame meanwhile, has only played in the NCAA Tournament once since 2017. The ACC needs these programs to return to their vintage form if it’s going to have more volume on the sport’s greatest stage."

I totally agree with Rothstein's assessment. The ACC has boasted a lot of Big Dance success in recent years, but the league needs to see more of its members earn invites to the field of 68 on a yearly basis.

Let's review a bit more Syracuse Orange sports news.

Syracuse ice hockey player is honored
The Orange, last weekend, began its 2024-25 season with two home victories against Stonehill, each by a final score of 4-0. This week, when the Atlantic Hockey America ("AHA") announced its rookie of the week, that honor went to 'Cuse freshman forward Rylee McLeod, who hails from Grande Prairie, Alberta.

In her first weekend of competition suiting up for the Orange, McLeod tallied two points, getting her first career goal this past Saturday in the team's win against Stonehill. Congrats to Rylee!

ACC commissioner to join NCAA's board
Per a media release, ACC commissioner Jim Phillips has been appointed to the NCAA's board of governors for a two-year term that expires in August of 2026. Phillips began serving as the ACC's commissioner in February of 2021.

For the current 2024-25 sports season, the ACC expanded by three members with the additions of Pac-12 Conference schools California and Stanford, along with SMU out of the American Athletic Conference.