NCAA Basketball: 2021-22 season preview based on quotes from the “Sopranos”
By Tommy Farmer
With the new Sopranos-based movie “The Many Saints of Newark” debuting this week and the NCAA Basketball season right around the corner, what better way is there to celebrate both than with a “Sopranos” college basketball season preview.
This isn’t about point-shaving or illegal recruiting payments via the New Jersey mafia, but rather a lighthearted mixture of famous quotes from The Sopranos with premier college basketball headlines.
Sure, there may be some stretches in here, but there are more parallels to be drawn between NJ organized crime in the late 20th-early 21st century and the upcoming 2021-2022 NCAA hoops season than meet the common eye.
Without further ado, your 2021-2022 “Sopranos” NCAA Basketball Preview…
"“I don’t care how close you are: in the end, your friends are gonna let you down. Family. They’re the only ones you can depend on.”"
As Jim Boeheim enters the twilight of his coaching career, it’s not just random kids from the East Coast he’s counting on to bring him another NCAA championship. Gone are the days of Carmelo Anthony and Fab Melo donning the Syracuse orange.
Like Tony Soprano in the later stages of the show, Boeheim is leaning more and more on the members of his own family. His son, Buddy Boeheim, will be returning for his fourth season with the team after a scorching hot shooting stretch to end the 2020-2021 season. In addition to coaching Buddy, Coach Boeheim will also add his oldest son, Jimmy, to the roster making it a full-scale family reunion at the Carrier Dome for this upcoming season.
The Orange are all geared up for another disappointing regular season that results in them sneaking in as an eleven-seed before making an Elite 8 run. The more things change, the more they stay the same.