The Syracuse Orange can technically do enough in the rest of the regular season to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Technically they can also make a run and win the auto-bid in the ACC Tournament.
Technically a lot of things can happen, but after the inexcusable loss to Boston College, Syracuse is in a dire position. Beating the bottom of the ACC wasn’t going to put Syracuse on the bubble, but losing that game slides them right out of consideration.
Now to get back in the discussion, not only do
the Orange have to win the games they are supposed to, they need to pull off more upsets. There was a path back to March Madness where Syracuse just needed to stay one Quad 1 road win and rely on a soft bubble to push them into strong consideration. That path is closed now and the challenge to dig out of this hole won’t be easy.
As much as people focus on Q1 wina, it’s really the bad losses that kill teams trying to get the final at-large bids. This is the 2nd bad loss for the Orange and you can’t make up for it with one good win. Syracuse needs to go on a big run the rest of the way and the inconsistency of this squad makes it hard to see this happening.
The next two games are at home and have gone from resume-builders to as “must-win” as any games in January can be. Virginia Tech and Miami are both looking to emerge from the ACC’s middle and while combined they don’t offset Saturday’s loss, the Orange have to start their climb back someplace. Can this group put the disappointment behind them and find a way to play a full 40 minutes?
The clock is ticking, not only on the season, but on the job status of this coaching staff.
