Spring Break
The Daily OrangeNot-so-Sweet 16 for Syracuse
By Anthony Mague
Posted: 3/22/05, 12:35 AM EST Section: Sports
Bracket busted. Shattered. Destroyed. Pick your favorite adjective to describe it.
Every year right around now, it's all you ever hear about.
And every year somebody sets up a "second-chance" Sweet 16 bracket pool.
Well, lucky for you, I've got your second-chance bracket. Well, sort of.
This time around, there will be no basketball games to choose from. Rather, this bracket features wacky matchups of Syracuse sports events that haven't gone too sweet as of late.
Dub it the "Not-So-Sweet" 16 of Syracuse sports.
Still Bitter over the Vermont Loss Bracket
Matchup: Technical Foul vs. 24 Turnovers
In our first battle of the Syracuse Not-So-Sweet 16, the two main reasons for the Syracuse men's basketball team's demise square off.
SU forward Terrence Roberts was given a technical foul for slapping the backboard after a dunk with about nine minutes to play.
The dunk had pulled the Orange to within three points, but whatever emotional spark it first provided was nullified with the technical. Vermont made the two ensuing free throws.
Meanwhile, SU turned the ball over a season-high 24 times, 10 of which came from star forward Hakim Warrick.
Wait, read that one more time: 24 times. Oh, by the way, those came against a Vermont program that was only in its third NCAA Tournament appearance ever.
Turning the ball over that many times is like entering Fat Joe in a swimsuit competition. You can't do it and expect to win.
Matchup: 25-foot 3-pointers vs. 20-foot 3-pointers
Suddenly, SU fans know just how deadly a 25-footer can be. Usually it's SU's own own long-distance dialer Gerry McNamara delivering the knockout punch.
In last Friday's loss it was Vermont's T.J. Sorrentine pulling up from what seemed like half court and hitting a 3 with a minute left in overtime that sent SU home early.
Some would say a 3 is a 3 no matter how far behind the line, but nailing one from where Sorrentine shot is much more of a psychological blow.
Enigma Bracket
Matchup: 2003-2004 Billy Edelin vs. 2004-2005 Billy Edelin
Really, there's no difference between the two.
Will anybody ever know the story behind the once highly-touted point guard? In four years at SU, Edelin has never played a complete season.
Edelin's career has been like a Cialis pill. It will only take you up and down for so long before it eventually falls off.
Matchup: Big East Champions vs. No. 4 Seed in Tournament
A No. 4 Seed? SU certainly should have been a No. 3 in the tournament, at least.
Yikes!
So much for that argument. It looks like the NCAA committee was right.
The critics say you have to "dance with the girl that brought you there." But when the girl is a blind date and you don't know who's showing up, the electric slide may never be utilized.
The truth is, you never knew which SU team you were going to get: The one that won the Big East tournament or the one that twice lost to both Pittsburgh and Connecticut.
Let's just say the girl with the pimple mustache showed up for the Orange last Friday.
Non-Basketball Bracket
Matchup: SU Lacrosse with a Powell vs. SU Lacrosse without a Powell
No Powell, no problem. Wrong.
"We're not thinking that we don't have (Powell) and how tough it's going to be without him," SU attackman Brian Crockett said. "We're just going to go out and play hard and do the best that we can."
The rhetoric was the same from many SU coaches and players. All said everything would be fine without a Powell on the SU roster for the first time in 10 years.
If by fine they meant starting the season 1-3 - their worst record since 1975 - then yes, everything is hunky-dory.
Packer-It Bracket
Matchup: Big East vs. ACC
The power struggle over which is the better conference continues to swirl.
The Atlantic Coast Conference had five teams accepted to the NCAA Tournament and three remain - North Carolina, Duke and N.C. State.
The Big East, with six teams accepted, has two remaining - Villanova and West Virginia. The three expected to have a legitimate chance at the Final Four - Connecticut, Syracuse, and Boston College - are losers.
Most knowledgeable college basketball fans would know who CBS's color commentary man Billy Packer would side with.
Neal Barrett, a good friend of mine, put it best: "Because B.C. lost, (Packer) will refer to the Eagles as a Big East member. If B.C. would have won, he would have called them and counted them as an 'up and coming ACC member.' He pretty much wants to spoon with Roy Williams and the rest of the ACC."
Ahh, college basketball how sweet, er, not-so-sweet, it is.
Every year right around now, it's all you ever hear about.
And every year somebody sets up a "second-chance" Sweet 16 bracket pool.
Well, lucky for you, I've got your second-chance bracket. Well, sort of.
This time around, there will be no basketball games to choose from. Rather, this bracket features wacky matchups of Syracuse sports events that haven't gone too sweet as of late.
Dub it the "Not-So-Sweet" 16 of Syracuse sports.
Still Bitter over the Vermont Loss Bracket
Matchup: Technical Foul vs. 24 Turnovers
In our first battle of the Syracuse Not-So-Sweet 16, the two main reasons for the Syracuse men's basketball team's demise square off.
SU forward Terrence Roberts was given a technical foul for slapping the backboard after a dunk with about nine minutes to play.
The dunk had pulled the Orange to within three points, but whatever emotional spark it first provided was nullified with the technical. Vermont made the two ensuing free throws.
Meanwhile, SU turned the ball over a season-high 24 times, 10 of which came from star forward Hakim Warrick.
Wait, read that one more time: 24 times. Oh, by the way, those came against a Vermont program that was only in its third NCAA Tournament appearance ever.
Turning the ball over that many times is like entering Fat Joe in a swimsuit competition. You can't do it and expect to win.
Matchup: 25-foot 3-pointers vs. 20-foot 3-pointers
Suddenly, SU fans know just how deadly a 25-footer can be. Usually it's SU's own own long-distance dialer Gerry McNamara delivering the knockout punch.
In last Friday's loss it was Vermont's T.J. Sorrentine pulling up from what seemed like half court and hitting a 3 with a minute left in overtime that sent SU home early.
Some would say a 3 is a 3 no matter how far behind the line, but nailing one from where Sorrentine shot is much more of a psychological blow.
Enigma Bracket
Matchup: 2003-2004 Billy Edelin vs. 2004-2005 Billy Edelin
Really, there's no difference between the two.
Will anybody ever know the story behind the once highly-touted point guard? In four years at SU, Edelin has never played a complete season.
Edelin's career has been like a Cialis pill. It will only take you up and down for so long before it eventually falls off.
Matchup: Big East Champions vs. No. 4 Seed in Tournament
A No. 4 Seed? SU certainly should have been a No. 3 in the tournament, at least.
Yikes!
So much for that argument. It looks like the NCAA committee was right.
The critics say you have to "dance with the girl that brought you there." But when the girl is a blind date and you don't know who's showing up, the electric slide may never be utilized.
The truth is, you never knew which SU team you were going to get: The one that won the Big East tournament or the one that twice lost to both Pittsburgh and Connecticut.
Let's just say the girl with the pimple mustache showed up for the Orange last Friday.
Non-Basketball Bracket
Matchup: SU Lacrosse with a Powell vs. SU Lacrosse without a Powell
No Powell, no problem. Wrong.
"We're not thinking that we don't have (Powell) and how tough it's going to be without him," SU attackman Brian Crockett said. "We're just going to go out and play hard and do the best that we can."
The rhetoric was the same from many SU coaches and players. All said everything would be fine without a Powell on the SU roster for the first time in 10 years.
If by fine they meant starting the season 1-3 - their worst record since 1975 - then yes, everything is hunky-dory.
Packer-It Bracket
Matchup: Big East vs. ACC
The power struggle over which is the better conference continues to swirl.
The Atlantic Coast Conference had five teams accepted to the NCAA Tournament and three remain - North Carolina, Duke and N.C. State.
The Big East, with six teams accepted, has two remaining - Villanova and West Virginia. The three expected to have a legitimate chance at the Final Four - Connecticut, Syracuse, and Boston College - are losers.
Most knowledgeable college basketball fans would know who CBS's color commentary man Billy Packer would side with.
Neal Barrett, a good friend of mine, put it best: "Because B.C. lost, (Packer) will refer to the Eagles as a Big East member. If B.C. would have won, he would have called them and counted them as an 'up and coming ACC member.' He pretty much wants to spoon with Roy Williams and the rest of the ACC."
Ahh, college basketball how sweet, er, not-so-sweet, it is.
Anthony Mague is a staff writer at The Daily Orange where his columns appear every Tuesday. E-mail him admague@syr.edu.
