My first post for The Bocker and it’s only fitting that it should be about the college I currently attend, Syracuse University. For the second straight year, Syracuse has shocked the world and upset Georgetown at home while G-Town was ranked in the top 10. For the second straight year Syracuse was faced with a do-or-die situation that would determine their chances for a NCAA tourney bid. And for the second straight year, I was sitting on the couch watching, as 30,000 Syracuse fans rushed the court and piled on top of the Cuse basketball team. Shame on me.
Two opportunities to feel the ultimate greatness as a fan and two opportunities blown because of the inability to awaken after a long Friday night. So as I watched the usually disappointed Cuse fans indulge in a moment of prosperity, I began to wonder if deja vu was about to actually occur. At the close of the 2007 selection show, fans were left asking questions such as how is this possible? How did the Georgetown win not solidify our chances? and Wasn’t Syracuse supposed to be a NCAA tourney lock? Even the front page for the Daily Orange, the schools daily newspaper, headlined The Big Dance after the beat down of Georgetown last year. So what is in store this year. The Orange is currently 9th in the Big East with five games left. Two against ranked opponents and one against a surging Louisville with a healthy David Padgett. Its gut check time for the Orange and this Georgetown win effectively has not changed their chances for a tourney bid. A big win against Georgetown gets canceled by their embarrassing beat down by South Florida.
So as I sat on the couch and watched fans celebrate for a few minutes before getting thrown off the court, I wondered whether the excitement was for nothing. Being very pessimistic, I expect only the worse from Boeheims squad. They have been a disappointment since Carmelo left, and if not for McNamara’s heroics they would have been a bubble team every year for the last 5 years. If these last five games go sour, Syracuse might not even make the Big East tourney, let alone the big dance. The season has been a long road for this youthful team, and another letdown come Selection Sunday will be disastrous for the future. Donte Greene might jump to the NBA if he can not taste March Madness, and pieces may fall slowly like a domino effect. The last freshman to lead ‘Cuse to the big dance from Maryland was Carmelo Anthony. And we know how that story ended.
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1 response so far ↓
Tony DeFreitas // February 18, 2008 at 4:17 am
Solid post, I honestly had not counted on you posting.
BTW, WTF did you have going on the other afternoon that you couldn’t sit through a game I’m assuming you had tickets for at the Carrier Dome versus the #7 (Gtown was 7 right?) team in the country?
More importantly, I have no clue how the Big East will turn out. I just hope that the Tourney committee allots them an appropriate number of bids (I’d hope
because its too hard to separate the teams in this conference.
I won’t even begin to start the tree (e.g. Cuse beat Gtown, Gtown beat WVA, WVA beat Depaul, and so and so forth) to figure out who’s the best.
I think the teams are getting enough respect though based on the national rankings, all they have to do is give Louisville (UNRANKED!?) some credit for rebounding from an awful start and realize that that team is as good as anyone in the Big East.