March is officially here and the Syracuse Orange women’s basketball team is now under two weeks away from knowing whether it will be one of the 68 teams going dancing this month.
Syracuse will at least one more game (and hopefully more) this week as it and the rest of the conference head off to Charlotte for the 2026 ACC Tournament. Here is a look at the Orange’s resume heading into the conference tournament, the latest bracketology updates going into it and the path which lies ahead of the team in the coming
days.
The resume by the numbers
Syracuse will enter the ACC Tournament ranked top-40 in NET, sitting exactly at the No. 40 spot. That is good for seventh-best in the conference. The teams ahead of the Orange are Duke (No. 10), Louisville (No. 13), North Carolina (No. 19), NC State (No. 23), Notre Dame (No. 24) and Virginia (No. 36). Syracuse lost to all these ACC teams, with the exception of Virginia.
The Orange finished the regular season (pre-conference tournament) with a 22-7 overall record and 12-6 record against the ACC. Syracuse’s conference record was tied for fifth-best in the conference alongside Notre Dame and Virginia Tech.
But, Syracuse slotted into the seven-seed for the ACC Tournament due to loses against both those opponents.
Syracuse’s March madness case is currently centered on how well its performed against non-Quadrant 1 teams. In 22 games, Syracuse is 5-1 against Q2, 3-0 against Q3 and 13-0 against Q4 opponents.
On the other hand, a quarter of Syracuse’s schedule to date has been against Q1 programs. In those contests, the Orange are just 1-6.
Latest bracketology updates
All signs point to Syracuse still being on the inside track of the NCAA Tournament bubble.
In ESPN’s latest bracketology update released Monday, Syracuse remains a projected nine-seed and forecasted to play No. 8 Illinois. ESPN’s bracketology predicts the Orange to not get any higher than the eight-seed.
CBS Sports’ most updated bracketology, which was released a week ago before Syracuse lost to Notre Dame and beat Boston College, had the Orange as an eight-seed and expected to play No. 9 Princeton. In both these bracketology predictions, Syracuse would play No. 1 UConn in the Second Round, should it advance to that point.
Like ESPN, Her Hoop Stats projects the same scenario as ESPN for the Orange.
(Editor Note: this thread from Matt Norlander about NCAA travel gives me a strong feeling that Syracuse will be put on buses to Storrs)
Potential ACC Tournament opponents
Syracuse will begin the conference tournament on Thursday versus either No. 11 California or No. 15 Wake Forest.
These are two totally different caliber of opponents. Wake Forest enters the tournament at 14-16 overall and 4-14 against the ACC with No. 121 in NET. This would be Syracuse’s fourth Q3 opportunity if the Demon Deacons upset Cal. The Orange won on the road by 15 versus Wake Forest earlier this year.
On the other side, the Cal game is more of a resume booster. The Golden Bears are No. 53 overall in NET, but finished just 18-13 overall and 9-9 versus the conference. In this scenario, Cal would be a firm Q2/fringe Q1 opponent for the Orange.
Another plot to watch out for: Syracuse notably beat Cal at home in triple-overtime earlier this year in the JMA Wireless Dome.
Should Syracuse advance to the ACC Quarterfinals, No. 2 Louisville would be up on deck. It would be the Orange’s eighth chance in 2025-26 at beating another Q1 opponent. The Cardinals previously defeated the Orange by 19 points in the Dome.
Up first is either WF or Cal. Tip-off for that game is set for 5 p.m. EST on the ACC Network.
