Through the dark...

Menotti put it pretty much perfect... but I wanted to add something on the more optimistic side of this shitty situation. This is from the Axeman Blog on Syracuse.com: Give the Fans an Assist

Can't stand these pundits

I've been quiet about this for a while, but I guess it's time to weigh in our NCAA tournament selection snub.

First, I'm going to ignore the numbers and talk about something that's really getting under my skin. I'm getting sick and tired of these talking heads making predictions and determinations and then saying "I told you so" when something different from their prediction turns out.

Take Doug Gottlieb. First, he said we needed the Georgetown win to be in the tournament. We got it - handily. What does Doug do? Change his mind. He states we need to beat UCONN in the Big East Tournament to be in. So, we go down to MSG and beat UCONN.

Finally, Doug is satisfied and says we're in during a segment on SportsCenter (or was it ESPN Bracketology? I can't remember)

So, what happens on Selection Sunday? He says we deserved not to be in the field of 65 after we're left out. What gives?

Well, maybe this will (not) answer your question:
Doug Gottlieb on ESPN Radio

So, what does he say on this show when talks to maybe the only other mouth that agrees with him in the country? That he believed that SU was in because the committee wouldn't have the guts to leave us out. It seems that the only one without guts is Doug when he retroactively formed the intent of a previously made statement.

What a coward.

Now, a look at the numbers from coach Boeheim, who in my opinion absolutely tore apart John Kincaid on ESPN radio

Let me summarize the most important point made by Jimmy B: our non-conference and overall strength of schedule is not a valid argument against our being left out of the tournament.

Here are the schools with worse OOC SOS than Syracuse:

Washington State
Notre Dame
Oregon
Texas
USC
Georgia Tech
Virginia
Indiana
Louisville
Georgetown
Kansas
Stanford

These teams had worse overall SOS than us: Nevada, Notre Dame, Old Dominion, Xavier, Butler

Without that argument, or the false argument of our weak BE schedule (1. of which we have no control over and 2. was the 4th strongest in the conference), there isn't very much of a case for us to be left out over a few of the questionable inclusions.