Syracuse is a Sweet 16 sleeper


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The little guys of March have all been eliminated from the NCAA Tournament.

Thanks for the memories, Stephen F. Austin, Middle Tennessee and Arkansas-Little Rock.

In many ways, this postseason fiasco is all about the little guys. Their magic against the powerhouses never fails to appease college basketball fans’ morbid fascination with seeing their brackets crumble.

And while this Sweet 16 features exactly zero real underdogs, there is one particularly intriguing team still hanging around.

Of course we see you, Syracuse.

The Orange racked up 13 losses on the season. This meant that Jim Boeheim’s not-so-star-studded team was on the bubble to even make the field of 68. However, after its self-imposed postseason ban just a year ago, ’Cuse squeezed its way into the tourney and now has officially completed its return to primetime.

Because of Northern Iowa’s historic collapse against Texas A&M, Syracuse is really the last team remaining that truly feels like an enigma.

Wisconsin, Notre Dame and Duke also finished with 10 or more losses this season, but these teams were grabbing headlines with regularity. The Wisconsin hype train was fairly calm this season after the Badgers’ postseason run a year ago, but Notre Dame and Duke always seem to find the limelight.

Syracuse’s season was a different story.

The Orange’s four-game skid in the middle of the season certainly didn’t help this group leap to the forefront of media attention, nor did the team’s losing five of its last six games leading up to the NCAA Tournament.

Many fans likely saw the perennial powerhouse casually hanging out in the bottom right corner of the bracket and didn’t think much of it. Yet although Syracuse-Dayton appeared the definition of a tossup, the Orange clobbered the Flyers.

Surely Boeheim’s team didn’t have the ability to compete with Michigan State in the second game. Well, the Spartans somehow lost by nine to a sneaky good Middle Tennessee bunch. This set up nicely for ‘Cuse, who wrecked the Cinderella team from Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Next up for Michael Gbinije and Malachi Richardson: Gonzaga. Gbinije and Richardson are Syracuse’s two leading scorers, but this team has flown so far under the radar that these names don’t really resonate like, say, Carmelo Anthony, Scoop Jardine or C.J Fair. The Bulldogs of Gonzaga cruised into the tournament as an 11-seed and simply dominated two quality teams in Seton Hall and Utah en route to the Sweet 16.

While this may look like a friendly draw for the good folks from Spokane, the admonition from a completely neutral columnist at a student publication is very real. Proceed with caution. Syracuse does not have a tremendous amount of pressure heaped upon its shoulders. Its zone seemingly always gives opposing coaches headaches in March and its balanced scoring at the offensive end represents a well-rounded, versatile attack.

The Carrier Dome, traditionally a cathedral of college basketball greatness, was seemingly just another gym this season. In fact, this middling ACC team was actually treated as such. ‘Cuse went .500 in conference play and looked perfectly average, yet these guys appear to be hitting stride at the perfect time.

As a program, having storylines — or even a roster — begging for television exposure during December obviously gets you nowhere in March. ‘Cuse is a legitimately dangerous team that could manage to escape the Midwest region if this upward trajectory continues against a talented Gonzaga side.

Josh Cohen is a sophomore majoring in broadcast and digital journalism. His column, “Cohen’s Corner,” runs Tuesdays.