-
NCAA Tournament – Syracuse & Wichita State Make it Into the Final Four
The first half of the Elite Eight weekend began with one very surprising result, as Wichita State didn’t just play better defense than the Buckeyes from Ohio State, but actually beat them to make their first final four in nearly 50 years. In the Big Easy derby between Syracuse and Marquette we saw a basketball game that showed a lot of the problems of the sport, while the Orange were the main benefactors of the ugliness.
-
Elite Eight – Syracuse vs Marquette Predictions
At some point in every NCAA tournament, it comes down to two teams that know each other very well, as it is the case with Syracuse and Marquette, two teams from the falling apart Big East, trying to make the final four for the first time in a decade.
-
Syracuse Orange – Michael Carter-Williams Ends a Number One’s Dream
Thanks to Syracuse and especially Michael Carter-Williams, we’re down to only two number one seeds left in the 2013 NCAA tournament, as the famous Orange zone defense was a bit too much for an Indiana team that lost steam as the season reached its critical point, figuring out how to start scoring a bit too late to be competitive in their Sweet Sixteen matchup.
-
Sweet Sixteen – Syracuse vs Indiana Predictions
No team plays the zone-defense as well as Syracuse does, on a good day, and there isn’t anyone as good, in the entire nation, on offense and as a team in general, like Indiana, when they’re clicking on all cylinders.
-
Louisville, Syracuse, Michigan, VCU & Arizona Make it Look Easy; Marquette & Gonzaga Not so Much
In a first night of NCAA tournament basketball, we had one real clear upset, but quite a few games that went down to the wire that probably shouldn’t have, including Gonzaga being pushed by Southern and Marquette barely getting by Davidson, thanks to a last-second layup by Vander Blue. On the other side of the equation, teams like Louisville, Syracuse, Michigan, VCU and Arizona, big favorites to begin with, didn’t really have any trouble with their opponents.
-
Louisville Cardinals – Big East Era Ends With a Double
The Big East name will remain, but with a lot less star power as the big names of one of College Basketball’s best conferences will be blown all over the nation, and Louisville, winning the conference tournament while grabbing a piece of the regular season title, become the last to be crowned champions.
-
Georgetown Hoyas – Otto Porter and All the Rest
It’s going to be a while until Georgetown play Syracuse inside the Carrier Dome once again, so Otto Porter made sure it was a game neither side were going to forget, almost outscoring the Orange by himself, while the Hoyas took sole control of the lead in the Big East.
-
Syracuse Orange – Prince-Tyson Gulley Loves Running in the Snow
Next season they’ll be in the ACC, but Syracuse had a proper send off to their Big East days by dominating and winning in the New Era Pinstripe bowl, that wouldn’t allow two pass happy teams to put the ball in the air, so they simply had to work on the ground. Prince-Tyson Gulley did the rest of the work for the Orange from there.
-
Jim Boeheim Can’t Beat Big Ten Teams
Jared Sullinger was too much, finishing with 19 point. Syracuse couldn’t keep Ohio State at bay with their zone defense that worked OK in the first half, but allowed 52.4% in the second half. Thad Matta is headed to his second final four with the Buckeyes in six years, while Jim Boeheim, who had a rough year off the court, tries to figure out how this happens against Big Ten teams all the time.
-
2012 NCAA Tournament Diary – Day 1
Uconn and Jim Calhoun became the first NCAA champion to bow down in the first round of next year’s NCAA tournament since UCLA in 1996, as the Iowa State Cyclones jumped the Huskies from the start and never let go of a big lead. This was only an upset because of the names of the program, but with no actual shocking bracket busters on the opening night of the 2012 NCAA tourney, the Cyclones made the biggest splash.