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.
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.