There is something that annoys me when I watch the sports news on Syracuse's local television stations, and it's not just because there is one NBC reporter who states that every game decided by 10 points was won by a decade (last I checked, that referred to an amount of time, not a certain number of points). It is also bothersome that whenever the Syracuse men's basketball team does not make the NCAA tournament, there is report after report of people whining about it.
After living in Syracuse for 16 years, it was not hard for me to notice a trend in the Syracuse basketball team. Hall of Fame head coach Jim Boeheim schedules one of the easiest non-conference schedules ever made every season. This ends up costing them in the end.
Syracuse can use its history and facilities to recruit the best players around the nation, such as Jonny Flynn and Paul Harris, both from nearby Niagara Falls. However, with the exception of the 2003 National Championship team, most of the Orange teams of late seem to be underperforming.
This is just a thought, but maybe this is because the team is not ready for the level of competition once it enters Big East play. With Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Georgetown, Louisville, Notre Dame and West Virginia in their conference, the Big East is one of the toughest leagues to be in. Therefore, a team may look to play highly ranked opponents during the first half of the season to prepare for the game to come.
Coach Boeheim would probably tell me I'm crazy because he needs his 20 wins every year. A tougher schedule would mean less wins, less hype and less underachieving. Oh wait, scratch that last one. He doesn't want to hear that.
The 2007 season is no exception to Syracuse's early cupcake schedule. No offense to the teams Syracuse will play this season, including Colgate, Cornell, Northeastern and Fordham, but the majority of them just do not have anywhere near the recruiting power that Syracuse does just because of its name and reputation.
As if it weren't enough that Syracuse schedules opponents without the resources of a Big East school, they won't even travel to get to them. Ten of Syracuse's 13 non-conference games this season are at the Carrier Dome, and all but one are in the state of New York.
Actually, this is a step up from last season. The 2006-07 season had the Orange play all 13 non-conference games in New York, with 11 of them at the Dome.
I remember seeing Coach Boeheim questioned about this by the local media. His response was that Canisius, despite being from New York, was a road game that would be tough.
This is the same Canisius team that hosted Buffalo last year as UB students chanted "high school gym" louder than any of the home crowd fans could. I know that the location helped UB students get there, but what I am saying is that it cannot be that intimidating for the Orange to travel down the thruway.
Last season, that tough game against the Golden Griffins was not enough to impress the NCAA selection committee and a 10-6 record in the Big East led to a disappointing NIT bid. Some Syracuse fans may have felt their conference record was good enough to earn them an NCAA bid, but a loss to Clemson in the first road game of the NIT proved they were not the best team in the NIT, either.
Their conference record was better than the year before when they did not leave New York until their conference schedule forced them to. A 7-9 conference record was still good enough to earn an NCAA spot. However, a loss to underdog Texas A&M in the season after being upset by Vermont may have alerted the committee enough to pay attention to Syracuse's first half of the schedule.
Without knowing the impact that freshman Jonny Flynn will have on the team, the season for the Orange will most likely go like any other season since that magical 2003 team. The Orange will win a lot of games early, be unprepared for the Big East and lose a few more than they should late, especially on the road. They will be on the bubble for the NCAA tournament once again. And if by chance they do make it, they will lose in the first round to a team that is seeded below them.
If they do not get invited to the Big Dance and settle for the NIT once again, I do not want to hear any cries from Syracuse fans until I see a few wins over ranked teams not in the Big East, or on the road. Sorry, Canisius is not on the schedule this year.
