Enjoyed this thread and chuckled at the Syracuse fan's efforts to prop up their porgram above UConn. I divide the BE history into 2 distinct categories 1979-1989 and 1990-present. Syracuse was not the dominant team during either period.
1979-89 - This was the birth of the BE and the "glory" years where the BE and ESPN used each other to grow at a tremendous rate. Syracuse and the "Dome" were a major part of this and UConn was pretty bad for quite a while. However, Syracuse was nowhere near a dominant BE team during that period. 'Cuse had zero elite 8 appearances from 79-87, but made the finals in 87 and the Elite 8 in 89. During that time period G'town made 6 Elite 8s, 3 Final Fours and won a National Chanpionship. Frankly, Villanova with 4 Elite 8s, a Final 4 and Championship during that decade has much more to brag about than 'Cuse. The highlights for the BE in those years were three Final 4 teams in 1985 (none were Syracuse), the Ewing/Mourning years at Georgetown, the 'Nova Championship in 1985. In fact, Providence, Seton Hall and St. John's have as many final 4 appearances in the 79-89 decade as Syracuse. Yes, there are some great regular season and conference tourney battles that involved Syracuse, but as far as being the "face of the BE" during that period it is undoutedly John Thompson and Georgetown.
1990-Present - This could be called the Calhoun era, but that is being a bit sarcastic. However, UConn was certainly a standout team during this period followed by Syracuse and a few others. The Conference title and Conference Tourney titles have been mentioned previously, so I will focus on the NCAAs UConn has 13 Sweet 16s, 9 Elite 8s, 4 Final 4s and 3 National Championships. Just looking at those numbers, it means UConn was 9-4 in Sweet 16 games, 4-5 in Elite 8, 3-1 in Final 4, and 3-0 in Championship games
Lets breakdown Syracuse's tournament record since they have been in the BE - 15 Sweet 16s, 5 Elite 8s, 3 Final 4s and 1 Championship. The records are as follows - 5-10 in the Sweet 16, 3-2 in Elite 8, 3-0 in Final 4s, and 1-2 in Chapmionship games. The 5-10 record in Sweet 16 games just screams of dissappointment. Additionally, since 1990 Syracuse has only made it to 3 Elite 8s. Think about that......the 'Cuse fans argue that they are the top BE team and they have only been to 3 Elite 8s in 22 years vs UConn's 9 Elite 8s in the same time period.
Syracuse can brag that they have been the most consistant team in the BE since the leagues inception in 1979. That is not a bad thing, and leads to Jim B. having his 900+ wins. I nominate Syracuse as the Craig Biggio of the Big East.
