…did anyone happen to notice that not only did Syracuse break the attendance record for an NIT game (23,522 set in 1979 for a Kentucky-Clemson game at Rupp Arena), but it destroyed it? 26,752 Syracuse fans filled the Carrier Dome and were rewarded with an 80-64 thrashing of New Mexico State (who earlier in the season beat Sweet-16 participant and conference member UNLV by 16) in the last game of the year at home. The game drew the third-highest attendance for a Syracuse game this season, drawing even more fans than the Georgetown game that everyone thought at the time put the Orange into the NCAA tournament.
I couldn’t be more proud of Coach Boeheim, the team, or the fans in how they have handled themselves after the initial shock, anger and disappointment wore off. A lot of snubbed teams have gone out and laid eggs in the past, but this team has taken the snub and turned it into a positive. After holding on against a feisty South Alabama team, the Orange dismantled Steve Fischer’s Aztecs in the second half on Monday night, treating the crowd to quite a show. Too bad the game was on ESPNU – I would’ve liked to see it.
Next up, somewhat ironically, is the Clemson Tigers, who got a 1 seed while the Orange were seeded 2nd, so this game is in Death Valley. No one down there thought they were bound for the NIT either when they started out 17-0, but the Tigers have put forth a good effort in dismantling Mississippi last night after rallying late to down East Tennessee State in the first round. Both teams seem to have the desire to win – we’ll see what happens on Wednesday night.
March 20th, 2007
By the by, the eight remaining teams in the NIT are Syracuse, West Virginia, DePaul, Clemson, NC State (who downed Drexel in the opening round), Florida State, Air Force, and Mississippi State. Three BEast teams, three from the ACC, 1 from the SEC and WAC each. Four of the remaining teams (Syracuse, Air Force, West Virginia, and WVU) are teams that felt that they were snubbed by the NCAA committee.
Clemson hosts Syracuse and the winner will play the winner of the Air Force/DePaul match-up in the semi-finals at Madison Square Garden. The other side of the bracket has the winner of WVU/NC State facing the winner of MSU/FSU. Not a bad final for the race to be #66.
March 20th, 2007
You AREN’T the only one who cares, as evidenced by the incredible number of fans at the Dome, and likewise at the DePaul/K-State game in Manhattan, KS.
The NIT is still a good tournamnet, and I’m thrilled that 3 of the final 8 are from the Big East.
I’m also thrilled that SU didn’t pull a Maryland and just mail it in after getting snubbed, especially since SU’s snub was much worse than EITHER of the last two years when MD didn’t get an invite.
GO ORANGE (I’m gonna go throw up now…)
March 20th, 2007
I’m thinking that I kinda wish Duke had gone to the NIT instead… Well… Maybe not.
March 20th, 2007
The ACC had 3 of the final 8 in the NIT (Clemson, Florida State and NC State.)
March 21st, 2007
And as I already noted in my first comment, the BEast has 3 teams as well.
March 21st, 2007
Maybe they should just schedule a post-season Big East/ACC challenge and put it into a bracket format
I think that would be very popular with the SiMP crowd.
March 21st, 2007
I wish they’d deep-six the Big Ten/ACC early season tournament and schedule the Big East instead. I don’t know how it’d work with 12 ACC teams and 16 Big East, but you could schedule just the top 12 teams from the Big East last year (the ones that made the BEast Tournament). I think there’d be a lot more interest in a Georgetown/UNC, Duke/Syracuse, or a UConn/Maryland game than there is currently in the Big Ten games, at least here on the East Coast (which as we all know is all that matters).
The Big Ten is a football conference with a basketball fetish. The BEast and ACC are basketball-first conferences – it makes more sense for them to play each other.
March 21st, 2007
There used to be a Big East/ACC shootout in the 1980s, but the ACC eventually begged out.
Next year, the Big East is starting what should become the Big East/SEC shootout. In 2007-8, it will only be 4 teams from each conference, but the hope is that it would grow to something much larger.
It’s only a matter of time until the PAC-10 and Big-12 link up now.
March 21st, 2007
The Pac 10 and Big 12 have already signed a deal and will start play this fall. The games will be played in late November/early December and the line-up is: Oregon @ Kansas St., Oklahoma @ USC, Washington St. @ Baylor, Iowa St. @ Oregon St., Washington @ Oklahoma St., MIssouri @ California, Arizona St. @ Nebraska, Stanford @ Colorado, Texas @ UCLA and Texas A&M @ Arizona. Although they are not part of the actual series, Kansas and Texas Tech still have games against Pac 10 schools with home games against Arizona and Stanford, respectively. So once again, Arizona will have one of the hardest schedules in the country with 5 of the current Sweet 16 teams guaranteed to be on their schedule for neaxt season, counting for 8 games. Of course, if they keep losing these games, does it really matter how hard the schedule is….
On another note, Air Force is part of the Mountain West Conference, not the WAC.