’Cuse gets off bubble, but it bursts on Irish
For the third straight year, Syracuse sat firmly on the bubble. For the second time, Jim Boeheim found a way to sneak into the NCAA Tournament.
Despite posting a losing record in the ACC, and dropping seven of its final 12 games, Syracuse (20-13) avoided missing back-toback NCAA Tournaments for just the third time in four decades, and snatched the final spot in the Big Dance, according to Bruce Rasmussen, the chair of the NCAA Tournament selection committee.
The 11th-seeded Orange will play Wednesday night in Dayton, Ohio, against 11th-seeded Arizona State (20-11), while UCLA (21-11) and St. Bonaventure (25-7) claimed the other final atlarge bids.
Syracuse produced just four Quadrant 1 wins, and suffered terrible losses to Wake Forest and Georgia Tech, but the Orange’s 18th-ranked strength of schedule — and late wins over Louisville, Miami, and Clemson — were enough to convince the committee.
“When I saw Davidson won today, I thought, ‘That could be us,’ but when Notre Dame passed on the screen, that was when I first thought we had a chance,” Boeheim, the 42nd-year coach, told reporters. “That was about as excited as I’ve seen that locker room in all the time I’ve been here.”
The NCAA Tournament added star power, by including Trae Young — the superstar freshman, who led the nation in scoring, and assists — and Oklahoma (18-13), which survived a 6-12 finish, and fall from the top five earlier in the season.
“We look at the entire body of work. The games in November count the same as games in February and March,” Rasmussen said.
Notre Dame was in line to extend its streak of seven straight NCAA Tournament berths, but was bounced from the field when Davidson completed its surprising Atlantic 10 Tournament run Sunday.
The Irish were in the precarious position after losing ACC preseason player of the year Bonzie Colson for two months with a broken foot. Before he got hurt, Notre Dame (20-14) went 11-3, and also beat NCAA Tournament teams such as Wichita State, Florida State, Virginia Tech and N.C. State.
“Notre Dame was a unique situation,” Rasmussen said. “They just didn’t have enough on their résumé to get in as an atlarge, even with Bonzie.”
Louisville was another notable exclusion, failing to reach — when eligible — the Tournament for the first time since 2006. Oklahoma State (19-14) and USC (23-11) also ended up on the outside, and like Louisville, have been linked to the FBI’s corruption probe.
Powerful mid-majors Saint Mary’s (28-5), and Middle Tennessee State (24-7), both paid for their lack of quality wins.
The Gaels picked up their only noteworthy win at Gonzaga, while the Blue Raiders missed opportunities against Auburn, USC and Miami, but Middle Tennessee State coach Kermit Davis was quick to point out how few opportunities schools outside of power conferences get to collect impressive wins.
“The committee sent a message to me that it’s going to get tougher for everybody at our level to get an at-large with this new system,” Davis told ESPN. “You’ve got to be perfect. We only have a few chances, and they are usually either on the road or on a neutral court, where the Power 5 schools have six to eight opportunities at home in front of their crowd.
“Look at the season that Saint Mary’s had. They were in the top 20 a week ago. I think people would rather watch both of us in Dayton than two Power 5 teams that finished seventh or eighth in their leagues.”