The Syracuse Orange (5-3) are over halfway done with their non-conference schedule and the ACC slate is set to begin this month.
With eight games officially in the books, now is a good time to see where
Syracuse ranks in the important metrics, how the rest of the Orange’s non-con opponents currently place and what the rest of the conference looks like.
NET
Syracuse is No. 75 in NET, as of Monday. That’s good for 13th in the ACC. Notably, the Orange’s most recent home win over Tennessee is now a Q2 dub instead of Q1. The Vols are No. 34 in NET.
The resume for the Orange looks like this: 0-3 in Q1, 1-0 in Q2, no Q3 games and 4-0 in Q4.
Your top-10 ACC teams by NET: Duke (No. 2), Louisville (No. 11), North Carolina (No. 15), Virginia (No. 16), Miami (No. 24), Clemson (No. 25), SMU (No. 37), NC State (No. 43), Virginia Tech (No. 54) and California (No. 58).
KenPom
Syracuse is currently ranked No. 63 in KenPom, including No. 34 in adjusted defensive efficiency and No. 103 in adjusted offensive efficiency.
As a result of the tougher competition now being calculated (three Q1 games in Las Vegas and the Tennessee game), Syracuse’s strength of schedule rating is now No. 73 after being in the 300s prior to the Players Era Festival.
Syracuse’s KenPom ranking is just outside the top-10 among ACC teams at No. 11. Five teams are in the top-25 overall: Duke (No. 4), Louisville (No. 15), Virginia (No. 21), North Carolina (No. 22) and Clemson (No. 25). The next closest teams to the Orange from the conference are Wake Forest (No. 46) and Notre Dame (No. 62) .
Bart Torvik
Among the metrics, Syracuse is highest in Bart Torvik, where it currently sits at No. 54 overall and 10th-highest among the ACC.
On both ends of the court, Bart Torvik also has the Orange ranked top-80 (No. 76) in adjusted offensive efficiency and top-50 (No. 47) in adjusted defensive efficiency.
A common trend from the Bart Torvik numbers and KenPom: compared to the preseason, Syracuse’s performance on defense has been way better. That said, where the defense was in the preseason is around where the offense ranks now.
The following teams sit ahead of the Orange, per Bart Torvik: Duke (No. 2), Louisville (No. 13), North Carolina (No. 20), Virginia (No. 21), Miami (No. 32), Clemson (No. 34), NC State (No. 38), SMU (No. 41) and Wake Forest (No. 49).
Projection for resume-building opportunities
Syracuse’s remaining five non-con games won’t do much to boost the overall resume, but they maybe could improve the Orange’s NET if the wins come by substantial margins.
Those handful of games will all be at home for the Orange, and only one opponent (Hofstra) currently rank in the top-100 in NET. That would also be Syracuse’s only non-Q4 non-con schedule left on the board. The rest of the slate includes Saint Joseph’s (No. 247), Mercyhurst (No. 304), Northeastern (No. 194) and Stonehill (No. 335), all Q4 games.
Looking ahead to the ACC slate, Syracuse is projected to open conference play with a critical home Q1 game against Clemson. The total breakdown of the ACC schedule for Syracuse currently looks like this:
- Q1: nine games, three at home and six on the road
- Q2: four games, all at home
- Q3: five games, two at home and three on the road
- Q4: none
Those numbers above obviously don’t include the conference opponents Syracuse could see in the ACC Tournament.
Bracketology projection
While there is still months to go in the season, it’s clear for the ACC as things stand now for postseason projections, the magic number for the conference is seven.
ESPN’s latest bracketology update has seven ACC teams in the field (Duke, Louisville, North Carolina, Clemson, SMU, NC State and Virginia) with another two (Miami and Wake Forest) in First Four/Next Four Out territory.
Jon Rothstein’s bracket breakdown is also projecting seven ACC programs to make the field: Duke, Louisville, North Carolina, Clemson, SMU, Virginia and Miami with Wake Forest as a First Four Out.
The Orange appear on at least one early expanded bubble, so we’ll see if they can keep creeping up to be in the discussion to be in the discussion.
Syracuse will return to the JMA Wireless Dome on Thursday night to take on Saint Joseph’s.
