Twenty-four hours after the field of 68 was announced for the men’s basketball tournament, it was the women’s turn to learn their post-season fate.  There is a different level of interest amongst Syracuse fans for the women’s tournament because Syracuse will be playing post-season basketball.
The Syracuse women’s team was announced as an eight-seed in the Greensboro region and will face nine-seed Nebraska in the first round.  The game will be played in Columbia, South Carolina, Friday night at 7:30 P.M.
If the Orange can get past the Cornhuskers, they will likely meet the South Carolina Gamecocks, who play Savannah State in the first round, on their home floor.  South Carolina is one of the best teams in the nation and has been talked about with the likes of UConn and Notre Dame as the best team in the country.
If the Orange and Gamecocks do collide in the second round, it will be their second meeting of the 2014-15 season.  Earlier this year, the Orange fell 67-63 to the Gamecocks at a neutral site (The Bahamas) as part of the Junkanoo Jam tournament.
This marks the third consecutive year that the Syracuse women’s team will participate in the NCAA tournament and it is the first time they have achieved this.
There is definitely more focus on the women’s team then usual.  With the announcement of the men’s team’s self-imposed post-season ban and the further sanctions issued by the NCAA, many fans are turning to the women’s team to feed their basketball fever.
Overall, this team has not gotten enough attention throughout the season. While the men’s team struggled, the women’s team thrived, going 21-9 overall (11-5 in the ACC) and they were ranked in the top 25 for most of the season.
Despite the lack of success of the men’s team, Orange Nation does have the chance to come together and watch some post-season basketball in 2015.
Posted:  Logan Grossman
