Is Syracuse really 15-1?

[jplotinus]

Granted, a closer look will no doubt result in RPi this and Sagarin that, but fact remains, Syracuse deserves careful consideration at practice, let alone BY threads, prior to Saturday's game. I'd hesitate to predict a 20+ point victory margin and would settle for a 12 point differential, no fights, no bruises and certainly no injuries. Sometimes, that is the best one can hope for versus 'Cuse.

 

[meyers7]

Is Syracuse really 15-1?

Why yes, yes they are.

I'll take a look at them later this week. Doubt they are quite as good as their record indicates.

 

[Wonkster]

.
Definitely something hinky about that 15-1 record. 'Cuse's sole loss was to Temple, who then went on to lose their next six straight games.

Syracuse is beginning to land some good recruits, though - there's no doubt about that. I just don't think they're a dangerous team yet.

 

[RadyLady]

They appear to have played a weak schedule thus far with three of the games pretty close:
one point wins over Georgia Tech (OT) and Virginia and a 4 point win over DePaul. We will be the first ranked team that they play. Likely to be not a close game at the end.

 

[VAMike23]

It's about this time each year that I miss Maya the most....! [at least as far as the regular season is concerned]

Coach Q:
"We'll get you this year!!!"

Maya:
"...Commence the beatings."

 

[RadyLady]

It's about this time each year that I miss Maya the most....! [at least as far as the regular season is concerned]

Coach Q:
"We'll get you this year!!!"

Maya:
"...Commence the beatings."

really, really, really liked that game. I am not a vindictive person by nature, but I'm telling you, that one felt good!

 

[vtcwbuff]

Well Jplot - Sagarin this - Syracuse has a schedule rank of 152. Compare that to UConn's rank of 2. They have played no teams ranked in the top 25. Uconn has played seven. Of the 3 top 50 teams they have played they beat VA by 1, Depaul by 4 and they creamed a St Joseph's team that's in the top 50 (#50) only because they have a relatively tough schedule.

JMO but unless Quentin is bringing back the punk patrol they are going to have a tough time in Hartford. Actually, they had a tough time even with them. I fondly remember Moore dumping a retaliatory 40 on them.

 

[meyers7]

Well Jplot - Sagarin this - Syracuse has a schedule rank of 152. Compare that to UConn's rank of 2. They have played no teams ranked in the top 25. Uconn has played seven. Of the 3 top 50 teams they have played they beat VA by 1, Depaul by 4 and they creamed a St Joseph's team that's in the top 50 (#50) only because they have a relatively tough schedule.

JMO but unless Quentin is bringing back the punk patrol they are going to have a tough time in Hartford. Actually, they had a tough time even with them. I fondly remember Moore dumping a retaliatory 40 on them.

They beat Georgetown by 30. UCONN beat Georgetown by 27. Just sayin'.

 

[uconnfan68]

Granted, a closer look will no doubt result in RPi this and Sagarin that, but fact remains, Syracuse deserves careful consideration at practice, let alone BY threads, prior to Saturday's game. I'd hesitate to predict a 20+ point victory margin and would settle for a 12 point differential, no fights, no bruises and certainly no injuries. Sometimes, that is the best one can hope for versus 'Cuse.

Did they play on the road yet? (Stealing a page from JB)

 

[jplotinus]

Did they play on the road yet? (Stealing a page from JB)

7 @ so far, but they haven't been very far away. No jet lag, I don't think. Next 3, starting with UCONN game are @ for them, including a game at 13-2 powerhouse Villanova.

 

[Tonyc]

Uconn by 25+ Depaul scored over 80 pts againest Cuse. Come on. This could be lights out early.

 

[Kevin G]

Syracuse has a weak out of conference schedule. It's been that way for the past few years if I recall.

 

[rjuconn]

Syracuse has a weak out of conference schedule. It's been that way for the past few years if I recall.

Q really likes to test his team with some tough non-conference games, doesn't he?

 

[HuskyNan]

Dartmouth, Binghamton and Wagner - really?
Schedule http://www.suathletics.com/schedule.aspx?path=wbasket

 

[Wonkster]

Syracuse has a weak out of conference schedule. It's been that way for the past few years if I recall.

Just copying Boeheim on the men's side.

 

[Man-Man]

.Definitely something hinky about that 15-1 record. 'Cuse's sole loss was to Temple, who then went on to lose their next six straight games.

Syracuse is beginning to land some good recruits, though - there's no doubt about that. I just don't think they're a dangerous team yet.

Just to put the Temple game in context two of Syracuse's starters "violated team rules" and were benched for most of the game. That being said, they have a good center that most of the offense is ran through, everyone else shoots a really low percentage. They play a lot different than in the past not in 2-3 zone as much but UConn shouldn't have too much trouble especially at home.

 

[Wbbfan1]

Too many Basketball teams schedule weak OOC schedules in an effort to get a 20 win season. There hoping 20 wins will get them in a post season tournament. Also it enables them to save their jobs, hard to fire a Head Coach when they're winning more then 60% of their games.

 

[Man-Man]

Too many Basketball teams schedule weak OOC schedules in an effort to get a 20 win season. There hoping 20 wins will get them in a post season tournament. Also it enables them to save their jobs, hard to fire a Head Coach when they're winning more then 60% of their games.

True

 

[UcMiami]

The weak OOC is also a financial consideration for a lot of teams - more home games, short road trips, etc. With almost all of the women's teams in the red it is a little hard to knock them for trying to maximize income and minimize expenses. And unfortunately 20 wins is a magical number when it comes to the NCAA - yes they focus on SOS, but there have been very few teams that have made the tournament with less than 20. Rutgers with its typically very strong RPI is one of the few teams that gets in with less than 20.

 

[Blakeon18]

'Nova is something like 15-2 after a close win over Penn last night. Who knew? Not I. One of their losses is to UDel when EDD was playing. Can you say "WNIT" for both Syracuse and Villanova? I suspect Harry in particular would have signed for that in October.

 

[meganmatthews]

They are still going to come in with the attitude that we have as many losses as Uconn. Be careful. Confidence is half the battle.

 

[VAUConnFan]

Granted, a closer look will no doubt result in RPi this and Sagarin that, but fact remains, Syracuse deserves careful consideration at practice, let alone BY threads, prior to Saturday's game. I'd hesitate to predict a 20+ point victory margin and would settle for a 12 point differential, no fights, no bruises and certainly no injuries. Sometimes, that is the best one can hope for versus 'Cuse.

Certainly, we can hope for more than that.

 

[HuskyMJ]

How do Syracuse, Vanderbilt and a few other teams operate with such a huge roster? They have so many kids who never play and since WBB teams tend to practice against male practice players, the end of bench would be even more limited in practice. I like Geno's approach of never loading up with 15 or more players. We are usually much lower than the scholarship limit. It must be weird for team chemistry because even in comfortable wins I've seen boxscores of Vandy and Cuse games where some of the bench players don't even get in the game.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

The weak OOC is also a financial consideration for a lot of teams - more home games, short road trips, etc. With almost all of the women's teams in the red it is a little hard to knock them for trying to maximize income and minimize expenses. And unfortunately 20 wins is a magical number when it comes to the NCAA - yes they focus on SOS, but there have been very few teams that have made the tournament with less than 20. Rutgers with its typically very strong RPI is one of the few teams that gets in with less than 20.

This and the other comments are true, also, one can get RPI benefits from playing the proper OOC teams. One of RU's really weak opponents this year - Southern - went 1 and 10 in their OOC (but played A&M and Ohio State (who knew) and a few other "mids") but have gone 5-1 in conference so far. LIkewise, Davidson went 3-7 OOC (including UNC, Miami, Tenn) but have started conference play 4-0. If either of these teams happen to continue to be dominant in conference, then RU will reap RPI benefits in a year that it looks like we really, really will need help.

 

[choochoo]

Cuse will need to be very lucky to hang with Uconn. They will need the stars to align and Uconn to have the game from hell. Beating up on cupcakes is not like playing Uconn or ND or Duke for 40 minutes. Come on Quentin really step up to the plate and play some tougher occ opponents to prove how good your team is. Paper stats mean nothing. Uconn has beaten six of seven top 25 teams since the season began. Cuse has false bravado!