All Time Toughest Opponents

Syracuse basketball fans have had it very fortunate over the years. In the first 112 years of varsity basketball, the Orangemen had only 16 losing seasons.  Of those sixteen seasons, four of them occurred before 1911, and nine of them prior to 1950.  The last losing season was 1968-1969.  The current 2013-2014 will add another winning season for the Orange, and losing seasons do not appear to be on the short term horizon. Fortunate indeed.

Syracuse has played 280 different teams since 1900.  Only 25 of those schools have a winning advantage over the Orange.  Ten of those schools have played Syracuse only once, and beat the Orange in that lone appearance. This includes Austin Peay, Baldwin-Wallace, Cleveland State, Denison, Denver, East Liverpool, Oral Roberts, Texas A&M, Tulsa and Williston Seminary.

Eastern Kentucky, Crescent Athletic Club, Illinois, and the St. John's Military Academy all have a 2-1 advantage over the Orange.   It is unlikely that Syracuse would ever play Crescent Athletic Club or St. John's Military Academy again.

Clemson, Iowa and Schenectady County East (whomever they are) have a 2-0 advantage over Syracuse. The Orange will now meet Clemson regularly, so the true nature of that series will resolve itself.  Iowa will likely require a couple of pre-season or post-season tournaments to get the matchups.

That leaves eight programs that have a real historical advantage over the Syracuse basketball squad.  There used to be nine, but Syracuse evened up the series with North Carolina with their win yesterday.  These are the teams, historically speaking, the Orange would not want to meet in a critical game:

#8:  The Oklahoma State Cowboys hold a 3-2 edge over the Orange.  OSU has won the past two games in the series, and the two teams have split their two matches in the NCAA tournament.  Oklahoma State was one of the teams Syracuse beat on its way to the national championship in 2003.

#7:  The Bradley Braves have a 3-1 edge over the Orangemen.  Bradley was a power house team in the early 1950s, when Syracuse faced them three times. The Orangemen upset them 76-75 in the National Campus Tournament finals in 1951.  Bradley upset the Orangemen in the 1982 NIT Tournament.

#6:  The Ohio State Buckeyes have a 5-2 advantage over the Orange.  The two teams have met twice in the NCAA tournament, with Ohio State beating the Orangemen both times; the last time was the Elite Eight in 2012.  The two teams first met in 1911.

#5: The Maryland Terrapins have a 5-2 edge over the Orange.  The two teams are now in the same conference, but only for one year, as the Terrapins move to the Big 10 next year. That is a shame, because geographically they would have made a real fine rival in the ACC.  Maryland beat the Orangemen the first five times they met, with Lefty Driesell on the bench.  However, the Orange have won the last two games in the series.  The two teams have met four times in the post-season, splitting those games.

#4:  The City College of New York (CCNY) Beavers have an 8-5 edge over the Orangemen.  CCNY was once a power house in college basketball, from the 1920's until the 1950's under legendary coach Nate Holman.  The Beavers' program was overshadowed and decimated by the infamous point shaving scandal of the 1950s, and it now a Division III program.

#3: The NewYork University Violets (NYU) have a 12-9 edge over Syracuse.  NYU was a power house in the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s in college basketball, and the Orangemen played them routinely then.  NYU holds the distinction of handing the Orangemen their worst margin of defeat ever.  Of course, the 1961-1962 Syracuse squad was the worst team ever fielded on the Hill, with a 2-22 overall record.

#2: The Kentucky Wildcats have an 8-3 advantage over the Orangemen. The Wildcats have long been one of the most established and successful programs in college basketball, so this should come as no surprise.  One of the notable early games was in 1964 with #9 ranked Kentucky beating unranked Syracuse 110-77.  It was notable because the Adolph Rupp coached Wildcats starred future Laker manager Pat Riley, while the Orangemen were led by two gentleman named Dave Bing and Jim Boeheim.    While the Orangemen have not had tremendous success against the Wildcats, it should be noted that Syracuse is 2-0 versus Kentucky at home, and 1-2 versus Kentucky in the NCAA tournament (one of those losses being the 1996 National Championship game).

#1: The Louisville Cardinals have been a thorn in Syracuse's side for much of its recent history.  The two teams first met in 1964, which the Cardinals won 67-62.   It's been a struggle since then as the Cardinals hold a 15-7 edge over the Orangemen. It doesn't seem to matter who coaches, whether is it Peck Hickman (2-0), Denny Crum (4-3)  or Rick Pitino (9-4) but Louisville has the Orange's number.  Louisville held only a 6-4 edge as of 2006, but then they won seven straight against the Orange.  Recent history as Big East foes has intensified the rivalry, and with Louisville moving to the ACC next season, there will be plenty of time for the Orange to rectify this imbalance.

Let's go Orange!

Orange Hoops: All-Time Competitor Series Info

I launched in December 2013 a new feature on OrangeHoops.org that will show the breakdown of the all-time series for the Orange against each of their opponents.  

The all-time series totals has existed since 2007, but displaying the breakdown of that series is new. You can get to each of the series by clicking on the opposing school.

For example, the Orange are now 4-4 all-time versus North Carolina, and have won the past two against the Tar Heels.  I have not completed the updates for all the teams Syracuse has ever played, but I have updated the series breakdowns for all their 2013-2014 opponents, particularly the ACC teams, which we all need to become more familiar with.

The win over North Carolina today showed a lot from the Orange.  Despite the fact that the Orange were shooting very poorly, and were sloppy with the ball earlier, they keep composed, were extremely aggressive on the offensive boards and on the interior defense, and won easily over the inconsistent Tar Heels 57-45. That final score makes the game seem closer than it was; there really was never a chance in the second half that the Orange were going to lose this one.

This was the 74th time the Orange have played in front of a crowd of 30,000+ fans at the Carrier Dome. Despite common misconception, the Orange do play well in front of those large crowds, with a 48-23 all-time record.

You must wonder what those large crowds are doing to the offenses of the teams. In the past four games at the Dome, where crowds exceeded 30,000 fans, neither team has scored more than 58 points.  Surely the Duke-Syracuse game later this year will break that trend.

Someone Out There Likes Us

Ken Pomeroy's computer simulations of the conference seasons has the Orange winning the ACC, and doing it with a rather strong edge over #2: 

http://kenpom.com/blog/index.php/weblog/entry/conference_race_simulations_part_iii

Interestingly, the Pitt Panthers are the second favorite team, based on his simulations, with Duke coming in third.  I, myself, think Pitt is a bit overrated at this point in the season by all the computer assessments out there, and I haven't quite figured out how Jamie Dixon is gaming the SOS to make it all work, considering the only team of any caliber that Pitt played they lost to (Cincinnati).  Ken Pomeroy also agrees that he believes his simulation is overstating Pitt, and understating Duke, for whatever it is worth.

We are also currently #5 in the country in his version of the RPI.

I'm not sure what to read into ESPN's BPI system, but it seems very flawed to me. Perhaps the sample size is too small right now, but having a 9-3 Kansas team ranked #2 in the country, when there are 8 undefeated teams is too excessive.  I can appreciate a tough schedule, but you have to win the games... you shouldn't get massive credit for just playing them.  Plus, the BPI has Pitt at #9, which as I indicated earlier, has a very easy schedule so far, and a loss, and yet they are higher than Syracuse. Go figure.

Anyhow, I thought I would pass along this news on this snowy January day.