New York State In-depth

Syracuse basketball needs big ACC triumphs given weak non-conference

The non-conference strength of the Orange’s schedule hasn’t done Syracuse basketball any favors, and that means the ‘Cuse need to pick up some signing wins in Atlantic Coast Conference competition should the team hope to get any chance of postseason considerations to have.

At this point in the 2022-23 campaign, Syracuse basketball (10-5, 3-1 in the ACC) is not a significant contender for a Big Dance spot this spring.

However, the Orange have won back-to-back, prevailed in seven of their last eight games and the ‘Cuse have already had two ACC road wins.

Also, this Saturday, Syracuse Basketball will travel to Charlottesville, Virginia to take on No. 11 Virginia. This league encounter offers the Oranges a tremendous opportunity to improve their CV, all the more critical given that the ‘Cuse had a really weak non-conference list according to a recent media report.

Syracuse basketball has poor non-conference metrics in 2022-23.

According to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, the Orange’s non-conference strength is checked in at number 310, which is among the worst in all of college basketball.

The ‘Cuse held a 7-4 mark in the non-conference portion of the 2022-23 list and none of the squad’s seven wins were overly impressive.

Of course, if some of the Orange’s non-conference opponents do well over the course of the 2022-23 stanza, it could help improve the strength of the non-conference schedule.

Another important facet to keep in mind here as Syracuse basketball attempts to enter the 2023 NCAA tournament discussion is that the ACC isn’t looking great these days.

The Associated Press’s most recent Top 25 poll included three league rosters — Virginia at No. 11, Miami at No. 12, and Duke at No. 16.

Each of these three teams lost their last game. The Cavaliers fell to Pittsburgh. The Hurricanes lost to Georgia Tech. And the Blue Devils were destroyed by NC State.

My point here is that the orange had a bad non-conference. If the ACC isn’t good to great, that could also hurt the ‘Cuse, who will be counting on strong conference wins to bolster his postseason hopes.

At the time of writing this article, Syracuse Basketball had an NCAA NET ranking of No. 143. The Orange must improve that rating significantly to have any realistic chance of having their name heard on Selection Sunday.

Below is the NET ranking for each of the team’s 31 regular-season opponents as of the writing of this column. The ‘Cuse has plenty of quality win opportunities coming up soon, and hopefully Syracuse basketball can capitalize on some of those opportunities that are lurking on the horizon.

November 7 against Lehigh
NET: No. 342
To win

November 15 vs. Colgate
NET: No. 127
Loss

November 19 towards the northeast
Net: No. 285
To win

November 21 vs. Richmond (Empire Classic in Brooklyn, NY)
NET: No. 136
To win

November 22 vs. St. John’s (Empire Classic in Brooklyn, NY)
NET: No. 107
Loss

November 26 against Bryant
NET: No. 152
Loss

November 29 in Illinois (ACC Big Ten Challenge)
NET: No. 39
Loss

December 3 at Notre Dame
NET: No. 174
To win

December 6 vs. Oakland
Net: No. 306
To win

December 10 against Georgetown
NET: No. 242
To win

December 12 against Monmouth
Net: No. 357
To win

December 17 against Cornell
NET: No. 98
To win

December 20 against Pittsburgh
NET: No. 68
Loss

December 31st vs. Boston College
NET: No. 212
To win

January 3 in Louisville
NET: No. 348
To win

January 7th in Virginia
NET: No. 20

January 11 against Virginia Tech
NET: No. 37

January 14 against Notre Dame
NET: No. 174

January 16 in Miami
NET: No. 35

January 21 at Georgia Tech
NET: No. 149

January 24 vs. North Carolina
Net: No. 29

January 28 at Virginia Tech
NET: No. 37

January 30 against Virginia
NET: No. 20

February 4 at Boston College
NET: No. 212

February 8 in the state of Florida
NET: No. 244

February 14 against NC State
NET: No. 64

February 18 against Duke
Net: No. 16

February 22 at Clemson
NET: No. 75

February 25 in Pittsburgh
NET: No. 68

February 28 vs. Georgia Tech
NET: No. 149

March 4 vs. Wake Forest
NET: No. 78

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