Despite the fact that they were not even projected to be in the field of 68, the Syracuse Orange have advanced to the NCAA Men’s basketball Final Four, along with the Oklahoma Sooners, the Villanova Wildcats, and the UNC Tar Heels.
The Orange went 4-5 earlier in the season during head coach Jim Boeheim’s NCAA suspension, and then ended the season by dropping five of their last 6 including a matchup with Pittsburgh in their final ACC tournament game.
Boheim himself admitted that his team’s roster was imperfectly constructed. The Orange have become a team that often plays without a real point guard, and which relies heavily on a trio of freshmen to make important contributions.
Neverthless, Syracuse has long been known for recruiting strong, talented players. In the last five years, the team has signed a total of 14 ESPN 100 prospects.
Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!
A week of sports news in your in-box.
We find the sports news you need to know, so you don't have to.
Syracuse came back from a 15-point deficit to defeat the Virginia Cavaliers 68-62 in the Elite 8 round at the United Center in Chicago on Sunday.
The 10th-ranked Orange (23-13) will face off against the East No. 1-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels (32-6) in the second Final Four Matchup at 8:49 pm on Saturday, April 2 at NRG Stadium in Houston. The game will air on TBS.
The No. 4 Syracuse women’s team (29-7) also advanced to the Final Four this year. They will play the No. 7 Washington Huskies (26-10) at 8:30 pm ET on Sunday, April 3 in Indianapolis. The game will air on ESPN.
Caption: CHICAGO, IL – MARCH 27: DaJuan Coleman #32 of the Syracuse Orange shoots against Mike Tobey #10 of the Virginia Cavaliers in the second half during the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional Final at United Center on March 27, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tny--EWynOQ Nike paid tribute to Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal with a 10-meter-tall animated display…
https://youtu.be/dtJoJz9hC48 Tennis legend Rafael Nadal bid a heartfelt goodbye to his devoted Spanish fans as he brought…
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DQ9Rxhnuer4 U.S. Olympic fencer Eli Dershwitz shed light on the critical skills necessary in fencing…
Two offensive linemen for the Chicago Bears returned to practice, a massive step in the…
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/s2g9t_33Myw President-elect Donald Trump received a warm welcome from Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter Jon…
Reporters asked quarterback Aaron Rodgers if he intended to return to the New York Jets…