It’s tournament season! Well, kind of. We’re still a far way away from March Madness (and Syracuse Men’s Basketball has some major work to do before then). But, Syracuse plays in its in-season tournament this week, this time in Brooklyn, New York for the Legends Classic.
It’s a stacked field. Joining SU are Texas, Texas Tech and Saint Joseph’s, all schools that are arguably much better than the teams Syracuse has already played this year.
The Orange will get two games no matter what. Here’s what the different outcomes would mean.
2-0 (Champs)
I’ll preface this by saying don’t get your hopes up. This is a hard field and the Orange are still very much going through some growing pains. SU’s combined margin of victory is 15 points through three games.
But, if SU can pull off a tournament championship, the Orange may be back. This would prove Syracuse was in fact just playing down to its competition these past two weeks, and that it will be able to compete come ACC play.
1-1 (Second or third place)
This wouldn’t be a horrible result for the Orange. This could potentially mean a win over Texas, which would be huge for the state of the program. But even if the win comes against Texas Tech or Saint Joseph’s, that’s a solid Q1 or Q2 win for SU’s resume.
After barely hanging in the first three games of the season, coming out of this weekend with any indication that SU will be able to hang with ACC talent would be huge for team momentum.
0-2 (Last place)
As disappointing as this would be, it may be the most likely outcome. The Orange begin with Texas, which started the year in the Top 25. Then, whether it’s Texas Tech or Saint Joseph’s next, both teams are higher in the KenPom rankings.
So what would this mean? SU has some serious work to do before ACC play. This is the level of opponents that Syracuse will be playing night in and night out just about a month from now. So it’s probably time to make some changes with lineups and plays.
