2016: the year the experts were wrong. From politics (Trump), to sports (Leicester City winning the English Premier League), people who make a living off of predictions have repeatedly been left with egg on their face.
As 2016 turned to 2017, one other popular opinion has been proven wrong: the idea that Syracuse basketball is any good.
Syracuse lost to BC Sunday 96-81 to fall to 8-6 on the year. The defeat ended any realistic chance of a turnaround this season.
While that is depressing, over at OrangeFizz, we like to have fun. The least we can do right now is laugh at how wrong we all were about this team.
The number one rule in comedy is that if you’re going to dish it out, you’ve got to be able to take it. So our first freezing cold take comes from this very site.
11/23/16 – So When Do The Real Tests Start For Syracuse Basketball?
In hindsight, this headline seems a bit arrogant. How naive…
Coming off of a blowout win over South Carolina State, everyone was feeling good about Syracuse Hoops. Fans couldn’t wait for SU to flex its muscles against some better competition. Well, the better competition came and with it, SU’s chances at postseason glory disappeared.
Now on to the experts, starting with Jim Boeheim himself.
10/4/16 РBoeheim: This is the best I’ve felt about a team in four-to-five years
When CBSSports’ Jon Rothstein visited SU’s practice in October, Boeheim made some comments that I’m sure he wishes he could take back.
He told Rothstein: “I probably haven’t felt this good about a team since we had Scoop Jardine, Dion Waiters, and Fab Melo during the 2011-12 season. We’ve got size. We’ve got length. We’ve got shooting. We can play big or we can play small. We’ve got options.”
Not quite…
10/11/16 – Syracuse has reloaded through transfers to be a Final Four contender once again
This take from SBnation was a popular one in the college basketball world (I mean even Boeheim thought so). It’s truly amazing how quickly the Orange has gone from Final Four contender to a .500 hopeful in the ACC.
Now, for some Tweets…
Paschal Chukwu is going to be like Martin Brodeur in the back of Syracuse's vaunted 2-3 zone. It's not shots blocked, it's shots altered.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) October 4, 2016
.@adnanESPN picked Syracuse to get back to the Final Four. I knew I always liked Adnan.
— Nick Feely (@nickfeely) November 11, 2016
Has Syracuse in The Final Four as a prediction. https://t.co/BwPZhKYUA1
— Syracuse Memes‚Ñ¢ (@Cusememes) November 10, 2016
The fact that so many people missed on Syracuse shows just how surprising this season has been.
