Halftime Snack

March 24, 2010 - 10:35pm
The Syracuse regional has the Big Red, the Big Blue, and now the Big Hurt. West Virginia lost its point guard to a foot injury yesterday; yet as they’ve done all season, keep rolling with the punches.

It’s February 23, 2002 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the University of Rochester is playing at Carnegie Mellon University in the final regular season game.

The Yellowjackets (21-4) need the victory to assure the at-large bid to the upcoming NCAA Tournament. I was a senior wing on Rochester, and with the game tied at 11-11, point guard Tim Sweeney (now an assistant coach at Elon University) got the outlet pass and passed the ball to me streaking up the sideline.

March 20, 2010 - 11:48am
Top-seeded Syracuse shook off naysayers and upset watchers, dominating No. 16 seed Catamounts, 79-56.

 

The NCAA men’s basketball tournament is a new start for 65 teams. Teams get a coveted bid, push the re-set button, and go about making adjustments.

The top seeds usually need little adjustment, but Syracuse’s first No. 1 seed in 30 years came with strings attached. After winning 28 games and the Big East regular season title, Orange head coach Jim Boeheim had a to-do list that include: insert a new rotation, weather the team’s longest layoff in four months, and exorcise the Vermont demons from 2005.

March 19, 2010 - 2:45pm
This is the ninth installment of “Friday Five,” a weekly column with analysis and insight on the Orange, the Big East and the rest of college basketball. The first round continues today with another full slate of games, capped tonight by Syracuse making its first appearance.

The NCAA Tournament is the re-set button for the college basketball season. The Big East Conference saw half of its members receive bids to the Big Dance, but after one crazy day, three of the 8 teams have been sent home.

The five storylines:

March 15, 2010 - 4:20pm
The 65-team NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament field was released on Sunday night, and the No. 4-ranked Syracuse Orange received their first No. 1 seed in 30 years. Syracuse (28-4) should pull up a chair at that complaint table with fellow upstate N.Y. schools Cornell and Siena.

The Syracuse University basketball wants to forever forget two memorable upsets in their NCAA history. The most memorable was in 1991 when the Orangemen, led by stars Adrian Autry and Billy Owens, became the first No. 2 seed to lose in the first round after losing to No. 15 seed Richmond, 73-69. The game was broadcast on CBS in prime time, setting the shock tones of March Madness reverberating across the country. Luckily, the Spiders, a No.

March 12, 2010 - 7:52pm
The Big East Tournament has its final four teams ready to battle in primetime with the semifinals tonight in Madison Square Garden, followed by the championship on Saturday night. That’s the good news. The bad news is Friday’s action will be the day fans remember.

The Big East tournament is alive and kicking. Syracuse, Villanova, and Pittsburgh, three of the top four seeds are home resting for the Big Dance. So what's left?

The five storylines:

March 6, 2010 - 8:34pm
A hot shooter, a big ceremony and past history swirled around Syracuse Saturday afternoon, and the No. 1 Orange lost at Louisville, 78-68, in the regular season finale for both teams.

The perfect storm brewed in Kentucky and swept away the Orange on Saturday afternoon.

Led by a scintillating second-half shooting performance from reserve guard Kyle Kuric, unranked Louisville defeated top-ranked Syracuse for the second time in three weeks. A 78-68 victory in the final game ever at historic Freedom Hall gave the Cardinals (20-11, 11-7 Big East) a No. 6 seed in the upcoming Big East Tournament.

Syracuse (28-3, 15-3) is still locked in as the top seed in the Big East Tournament and assured of a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

March 5, 2010 - 11:09am
This is the eighth installment of “Friday Five,” a weekly column with analysis and insight on the Orange, the Big East and the rest of college basketball. This final weekend of regular season play whets the palate for the upcoming Big East Championship. Who you taking with you?

Halftime Snack picks the top five in the Big East. The regular season play ends for the Conference on Saturday, and as all 16 teams prepare to head to 7th Avenue, Halftime Snack picked a squad to take to Madison Square Garden:

The starting five:

March 1, 2010 - 10:46pm
The Orange men's basketball team is the top-ranked team in the country for the first time since 1990. Head coach Jim Boeheim says it's time to stop celebrating, and Halftime Snack thinks fans should listen up.

College basketball fans are emotional, narrow-minded, and hard of hearing. In other words: just like the players. The blood pressure is rising, the sweaty bodies are banging around, and you never want the passion to be in question. And then you ignore your coach.

The current Orange squad, more talented and balanced than many can remember, and is 27-2 beacuse they believed in the system the head coach set up. The result: Syracuse received the top ranking in both major college basketball polls released on Monday.

February 26, 2010 - 2:59pm
This is the seventh installment of “Friday Five,” a weekly column with analysis and insight on the Orange, the Big East and the rest of college basketball. The regular season championship hangs in the balance as No. 8 Villanova heads to snow-bound No. 4 Syracuse.

The first year in the new decade is not a leap year and we are without that 29th day in February. This will not keep Halftime Snack from taking a few leaps:

Starting five:

February 19, 2010 - 12:18pm
This is the sixth installment of “Friday Five,” a weekly column with analysis and insight on the Orange, the Big East and the rest of college basketball. Stand up fans, the next month are what make college basketball so special.

What goes up, must come down, right? The warm weather and hot basketball teams pushed the winter doldrums back a few months, raising Syracuse’s spirits. But now the snow is falling every day and night, and the hoopsters are walking a chilly line as tournament berths and seedings are decided. Who falls, who rises?

The starting five: