ACC Basketball: Duke clear ahead, Pitt dead last in latest power rankings

The Syracuse Orange may have been and continues to be the most fascinating program to watch. They look to once again be right on the bubble, having lost to both Colgate and VCU, while also scoring 112 points in a double-OT win over Indiana. They don’t have a bad loss yet but everything sets up for the Orange to be around 20-12 and sweating it out on Selection Sunday.

This is a team whose zone isn’t threatening at all and is fairly easy to score on inside. Syracuse gave up 100 points at home to Colgate, losing to them for the first time in decades. Four games already giving up 84+ points is a bad omen for now but at least they have a star in Buddy Boeheim (21.0 ppg) who is capable of keeping them in most games.

All five starters for the Orange are currently averaging over 12.6 ppg, including starting center Jesse Edwards and transfers, Cole Swider, and Jimmy Boeheim. Joe Girard (15.0 ppg and 4.7 apg) is having a bounce-back season after struggling as a sophomore but this group is providing nearly 100% of the team’s production. They once again don’t have much of a bench, with top-50 freshman Benny Williams, Marquette transfer Symir Torrence and backup big Frank Anselem not doing much when on the court.

As long as the defense remains an issue, Syracuse is going to have to win all of its games via shootouts, and even that won’t work all the time. But this is the roster they have and as long as the entire starting lineup keeps up its production and Buddy continues to be a 20 ppg scorer, they’ll be in the mix once again.