Syracuse was scheduled to play Louisville tonight, but alas, COVID strikes again. There’s been a positive test within the Cardinals program. This is the fifth game this year SU will have missed due to COVID.
The next time Syracuse will suit up will be six days from now, Saturday opposing Clemson in South Carolina. Initially the Orange were supposed to take on the Tigers back on January 12th, but a positive test within the Clemson program prevented that from happening. Instead, it’ll be a 2:00 P.M. tip this Saturday on ACCN.
Now, what does this postponement mean for the Orange? It means breaks are farther and fewer between going forward. Other than the Louisville game, SU needs to make up 3 others to finish the year (Wake Forest, Florida State, Clemson).
The longest remaining break on Syracuse’s schedule is a five-day stretch between Duke and Georgia Tech from Feb. 22nd РFeb. 27th. This of course is something Coach Boeheim will bring up in numerous post game pressers as reasons to why the team might be struggling, and rightly so. It’s not exactly a simple task for a basketball team to be running and gunning for a month straight at the college level. Expect some tired legs, and a lot more use of depth going forward. This is where the reappearance of guys like Woody Newton and Bourama Sidibe would be monumental for this team.
Another way to look at this is that of quality wins. SU doesn’t have a ton of chances left to pick those up. Louisville could have been one. A team that recently fell out of the top 25 and still plays strong basketball now all of the sudden is a team coming off a COVID break maybe having a hard time getting back up to speed on the floor. Luckily for Syracuse, Clemson is another shot at picking up a resume building win. The Tigers started the year at a strong 9-1, they’ve since fallen off to 11-5 but still pose a threat and are considered a strong team.
Buckle up, February is going to be a grueling and crucial month for Syracuse basketball.
