Syracuse sharpshooter Trevor Cooney says getting wins on the road in the ACC is tougher than it used to be in the Big East. He was asked to size up the difference between the two.
“Playing in the Big East my first two years, now switching to the ACC. The Big East was more NBA arenas. You played in big cities. Now you have bigger schools and you’re playing on campus. I think the students play a bigger factor in ACC games than in Big East games. The venues are right on campus, which draws more students and makes it tougher.”
It’s an interesting point by Cooney. Syracuse used to play at huge NBA-sized arenas in Philly, DC and NYC. Providence, Louisville, Seton Hall, and DePaul also had bigger venues in populated areas. Very few of the arenas in the Big East were on campus. Compare that with places like the Dean Dome, Cameron Indoor and John Paul Jones Arena (UVA), where the students make the place deafening.
But it didn’t seem to affect the Orange in Year One of the ACC. The Orange ripped off that incredible start to the season with the help of all¬†its wins on the road. SU went to Virginia Tech, BC, Wake Forest, Miami and Pitt and won. Eventually, SU lost at Duke and Virginia in the middle of its crash and burn finish. But for the first few months of the ACC season, playing away from the Dome didn’t hurt at all.
Let’s hope the Orange get back to being road warriors this season, although the test will be tougher with inexperienced roster that hasn’t played in those environments before.
Posted: D.A.
