Keep on Winning...Keep on Winning...

One of the hot topics among Syracuse fans lately has been whether or not the current lull being experienced by the team is something to worry about.  Personally, I love being in this position; we are pretty much a lock for an NCAA #1 seed; we are 28-1 and a game away from clinching the Big East championship.  Yet, many fans think we are simply an average team and will be “bounced early” in the NCAA Tournament. 

There is only one thing I look for when determining if a team is a good team, whether or not they win games.  Most teams who have games when they don’t play up to their potential are going to lose a game or two.  I will be the first one to say that Syracuse has not always played up to potential this season, but guess what...they are 28-1! 

As a long time Syracuse fan I have always been frustrated by the way we seem to go through a mid to late season slump just about every year.  In fact, looking back to the 1998-99 season (I chose that year since that is when I was a freshman at SU and I didn’t want to take more time) all but three years we have had a slump that has led to at least four losses and as many as NINE.  The three years this has not happened were our championship year, 2009-10 when we were a top contender and would have won the championship had it not been for Onuaku’s injury, and this season.  In those slumps, there have normally been a few losses against good teams, but always at least one WTF loss.  (For those interested the slumps are listed below.)

My point, if you haven’t figured it out yet, is that this season we are winning games that in most “normal” seasons we would lose.  We are beating Rutgers at Rutgers and South Florida (who is a quality team this year) at home, and to top it off we have some very good wins sprinkled in (UConn, Louisville, Cincinnati, West Virginia, and Georgetown).  With two games remaining, we have beaten EVERY team in the Big East except Notre Dame, who played out of this world against us while we played our first game without our starting center.  In most years at least one or two of these games would have been a WTF loss and one or two others would have been losses against “good” teams.  This season we have won ALL of those games.

In my experience Syracuse teams tend to have up and down seasons.  They will start very good in the pre-conference schedule and into the beginning of the conference schedule and then after a mid to late season slump, they then start to play well again.  In several seasons this resurgence has come too early, at the end of the regular season and into the Big East Tournament.  This season I am hoping our resurgence occurs at the end of the Big East Tournament and into the NCAA Tournament.  And until that resurgence I will gladly keep taking the “ugly wins.”  Since a WIN IS A WIN!

2010-11

(2-6)

@ Pittsburgh

Villanova

Seton Hall

@ Marquette

@ UConn W

@ South Florida W

Georgetown

@ Louisville

2008-09

(3-7)

@ Georgetown

@ Pittsburgh

Notre Dame W

Louisville

@ Providence

West Virginia W

@ Villanova

@ UConn

Georgetown W

Villanova

2007-08

(5-9)

@ Cincinnati

@ West Virginia

Rutgers W

Villanova

@ Georgetown

Providence W

@ DePaul W

@ Villanova W

UConn

@ South Florida

Georgetown W

@ Louisville

@ Notre Dame

Pittsburgh

2006-07

(5-5)

Pittsburgh

@ Marquette W

@ Rutgers W

Villanova W

Cincinnati W

@ St. John’s

@ Louisville

Notre Dame

DePaul W

@ UConn

2005-06

(4-9)

UConn

@ Villanova

@ Pittsburgh

Seton Hall

Rutgers W

@ UConn

@ St. John’s W

Cincinnati

Louisville W

West Virginia W

@ Georgetown

@ DePaul

Villanova

2004-05

(4-5)

@ Pittsburgh

Notre Dame W

UConn

@Villanova W

Pittsburgh

@ BC

St. John’s W

Providence W

@ UConn

2003-04

(3-5)
@ Seton Hall

Pittsburgh

Virginia Tech W

@ UConn

@ Providence

Rutgers W

@ Miami W

Notre Dame

2001-02

(4-8)

@ Tennessee

@ Pittsburgh

Virginia Tech W

@ Georgetown

@ Rutgers

West Virginia W

Pittsburgh

@ Notre Dame W

@ Seton Hall W

Georgetown

@ Villanova

BC

2000-01

(2-4)

@ BC

Seton Hall W

Miami

@ West Virginia

UConn W

@ Georgetown

1999-00

(5-5)

Seton Hall

@ Louisville

UCLA W

Pittsburgh W

@ St. John’s

Villanova W

Georgetown W

Notre Dame W

@ UConn

Georgetown

1998-99

(5-5)

St. John’s

@ Seton Hall W

@ UConn W

Villanova

Miami

@ Pittsburgh W

Notre Dame W

@ UCLA

@ BC W

UConn