Busting Brackets
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March Madness: Three biggest surprises to get bids to the 2018 NCAA Tournament

By Brad Cavallaro

SYRACUSE, NY - FEBRUARY 03: Head coach Jim Boeheim of the Syracuse Orange reacts to a play against the Virginia Cavaliers during the first half at the Carrier Dome on February 3, 2018 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images)
SYRACUSE, NY - FEBRUARY 03: Head coach Jim Boeheim of the Syracuse Orange reacts to a play against the Virginia Cavaliers during the first half at the Carrier Dome on February 3, 2018 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images) /
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SYRACUSE, NY – FEBRUARY 21: Tyus Battle
SYRACUSE, NY – FEBRUARY 21: Tyus Battle /

Syracuse Orange

The only team that I thought was NIT bound that made the field was Syracuse. When making a projected bracket earlier in the week, the last two or three spots were almost impossible to choose. Syracuse, Baylor, Marquette, Middle Tennessee, USC, Notre Dame, and even St. Mary’s all had a reasonable claim on one of the last few bids.

However, when San Diego State and Davidson stole NCAA Tournament bids, I thought all these teams were done for. Despite a historically poor RPI, I thought Oklahoma State would be the final selection, but the Orange were able to avoid a second straight NIT berth and grab that last spot.

Syracuse has an excellent defense which is anchored by 7’2’’ center Paschal Chukwu, but struggle offensively. The offense is run exclusively by their two guards, Tyus Battle and Frank Howard, who take a majority of the shots and have an enormous responsibility to carry the scoring load. Combo forward O’Shae Brissett is a talented scorer as well, but the Orange get little to no consistent production outside of these three.

They are not the most aesthetically pleasing team to watch, but their stingy 2-3 zone has enough length to disrupt even the best offensive teams. Despite their minimal depth, Syracuse has the ability to win a game or two in the NCAA Tournament, but their inclusion is questionable.

The Orange have a solid RPI (45) and a great non-conference SOS (14), but they accomplished very little outside of the ACC. At the time, beating Maryland looked like a quality win, but an injury to Justin Jackson sent them into a tailspin. Buffalo is a solid win, but they needed the automatic bid to make the Big Dance.

The strength of this resume is their two key road wins (at Miami, at Louisville) and their win over Clemson. Road wins over quality teams are HUGE and Syracuse’s inclusion clearly proves this. Syracuse’s worst losses were on the road which also minimizes their damage.

I would have given the nod to Oklahoma State who accumulated multiple huge wins, including a regular season sweep of Kansas and a win at West Virginia. The Cowboys clearly had the wins, but a terrible RPI (88) did them in.

The Orange have a solid resume, but at least one NIT team (Oklahoma State) had a better resume.

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