How about the fact that we had four conference road wins, only played the bottom four teams in the Big East a combined three times and also were the only team who has beaten Georgetown in their last sixteen games?!? If Syracuse's resume was not enough to put them in, I don't know whose is.
To watch Gary Walters, the NCAA Selection Committee Chairman hem and haw about there being a lot of great teams, gave me a legitimate purpose to drive to Indianapolis tonight and end him.
All this brouhaha about Syracuse not playing a non-conference road game and not beating anyone out of conference is a red herring. The Selection Committee always asserts an emphasis will be placed on how you have played down the stretch of the season, namely the last ten games. This is the philosphy that puts an Arkansas team who went 7-9 in the weak SEC division into the tournament because they maid the SEC Championship finals (only to get blown away by Florida). It is entirely inconsistent to apply this approach to a team like Arkansas or Stanford (4-6 in last 10 games, including a first round Pac10 tourney loss to USC) and not to Syracuse, who won a game in their conference tournament and performed well down the stretch.
In sum, Boeheim was correct in his press conference. Whenever Syracuse leaves the decision on whether or not they will make the tournament up to the Selection Committee, they always end up on the losing side.
Good luck getting this dejected team excited for an NIT matchup against perennial powerhouse South Alabama.
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How about the fact that we had four conference road wins, only played the bottom four teams in the Big East a combined three times and also were the only team who has beaten Georgetown in their last sixteen games?!? If Syracuse's resume was not enough to put them in, I don't know whose is.
To watch Gary Walters, the NCAA Selection Committee Chairman hem and haw about there being a lot of great teams, gave me a legitimate purpose to drive to Indianapolis tonight and end him.
All this brouhaha about Syracuse not playing a non-conference road game and not beating anyone out of conference is a red herring. The Selection Committee always asserts an emphasis will be placed on how you have played down the stretch of the season, namely the last ten games. This is the philosphy that puts an Arkansas team who went 7-9 in the weak SEC division into the tournament because they maid the SEC Championship finals (only to get blown away by Florida). It is entirely inconsistent to apply this approach to a team like Arkansas or Stanford (4-6 in last 10 games, including a first round Pac10 tourney loss to USC) and not to Syracuse, who won a game in their conference tournament and performed well down the stretch.
In sum, Boeheim was correct in his press conference. Whenever Syracuse leaves the decision on whether or not they will make the tournament up to the Selection Committee, they always end up on the losing side.
Good luck getting this dejected team excited for an NIT matchup against perennial powerhouse South Alabama.
When asked point blank about Syracuse Walters gave a complete non-answer. Not to be a link whore but I copied it down here.
You're absolutely right about Syracuse and the NIT. I'd be really surprised if they muster up the intensity to go deep into this tournament.
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