While many might think the Syracuse Orange didn't have a great 2014-15 season, a closer look shows that despite tough seasons in football and men's basketball, the men fared pretty well against ACC competition. It was a tougher year for the Syracuse women, despite the Final Four runs from field hockey and women's lacrosse.
Yesterday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution released a ranking of ACC schools by athletic performance during the 2014-15 year. The formula they used was modeled after one used by the SEC to determine that conference's All-Sports Championship
Teams were awarded points based on either regular-season finish (for sports with head-to-head tournament championships) or championship finish – 14 points for first place in a 14-team sport, 13 for second, etc. The total was then divided into the total possible number of points available for each school based on the sports for which it fields teams. (North Carolina is the only school to field teams in every sport in the ACC program.)Track was counted as one sport, with cross country and indoor track weighted 25 percent and outdoor track 50 percent. The model follows the one used to determine the SEC’s all-sports champion. The ACC does not keep such records.
That last part of the formula doesn't make sense to me (for obvious reasons), so I decided to take a little deeper look to see just how the Syracuse Orange fared last year. The first thing we are going to do is make cross-country, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field count as separate sports The obvious first step is learning how to pole vault, but will assume that is a given. Next, we will just look at the sports in which Syracuse fields teams which compete in the ACC (7 men and 11 for the women).
Men's Sports
| School | Soccer | Football | Basketball | Lacrosse | Cross-Country | Indoor T&F | Outdoor T&F | Points | Possible Points | Score |
| Florida St | NA | 14 | 6 | NA | 11 | 14 | 15 | 60 | 74 | 0.811 |
| UNC | 10 | 8 | 11 | 4 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 69 | 91 | 0.758 |
| Virginia | 5 | 4.5 | 15 | 1 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 64.5 | 91 | 0.709 |
| Clemson | 10 | 12 | 6 | NA | 7 | 11 | 12 | 58 | 86 | 0.674 |
| Notre Dame | 12 | NA | 13 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 50 | 77 | 0.649 |
| Syracuse | 10 | 1.5 | 8 | 3 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 57 | 91 | 0.626 |
| Louisville | 7 | 10.5 | 12 | NA | 8 | 7 | 8 | 52.5 | 90 | 0.583 |
| Duke | 6 | 10.5 | 14 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 56 | 91 | 0.615 |
| Virginia Tech | 4 | 4.5 | 1 | NA | 10 | 15 | 13 | 48 | 86 | 0.558 |
| NC State | 3 | 4.5 | 9.5 | NA | 14 | 7 | 4 | 42 | 86 | 0.488 |
| Miami | NA | 4.5 | 9.5 | NA | 1 | 8 | 5 | 28 | 74 | 0.378 |
| Pittsburgh | 1 | 8 | 6 | NA | 3 | 7 | 7 | 32 | 86 | 0.372 |
| Georgia Tech | NA | 13 | 2 | NA | 6 | 2 | 3 | 26 | 74 | 0.351 |
| Wake Forest | 8 | 1.5 | 4 | NA | 5 | 3 | 2 | 24 | 86 | 0.279 |
| Boston College | 2 | 8 | 3 | NA | 2 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 86 | 0.198 |
Takeaways:
Splitting the track points into three separate sports clearly helps Syracuse, which jumps from 8th to 6th on the strength of the ACC Cross-Country Championship and solid finishes in both track seasons. Even small improvements from football and basketball next year can elevate the Orange even further. Condolences to Boston College Eagles fans because outside of football, that's some pretty awful results.
Women's Sports
| School | Volleyball | Soccer | Field Hockey | Rowing | Lacrosse | Softball | Tennis | Basketball | Cross-Country | Indoor T&F | Outdoor T&F | Points | Possible Pts | Score |
| Florida St | 14 | 13.5 | NA | NA | NA | 11 | 6 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 100.5 | 115 | 0.874 |
| UNC | 15 | 13.5 | 6.5 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 15 | 10 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 119 | 139 | 0.856 |
| Notre Dame | 2 | 11 | NA | 8 | 3.5 | 9 | 9 | 15 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 92.5 | 132 | 0.701 |
| Virginia | 9.5 | 12 | 6.5 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 12.5 | 6 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 88.5 | 139 | 0.637 |
| Duke | 12.5 | 8 | 1.5 | 3 | 6.5 | NA | 12.5 | 11.5 | 6 | 11 | 8 | 80.5 | 128 | 0.629 |
| Clemson | 5.5 | 10 | NA | 5 | NA | NA | 11 | 1.5 | 3 | 15 | 15 | 66 | 113 | 0.584 |
| Miami | 12.5 | 3.5 | NA | 1 | NA | NA | 14 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 13 | 62 | 113 | 0.549 |
| Virginia Tech | 9.5 | 9 | NA | NA | 1 | 5 | 7.5 | 1.5 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 56.5 | 123 | 0.533 |
| Louisville | 8 | 6.5 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 68.5 | 139 | 0.493 |
| NC State | 3 | 1 | NA | NA | NA | 7 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 50 | 115 | 0.435 |
| BC | 5.5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 6.5 | 4 | 7.5 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 54.5 | 139 | 0.392 |
| Syracuse | 1 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 7 | 3.5 | 2 | 4 | 11.5 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 54 | 139 | 0.388 |
| Wake Forest | 5.5 | 6.5 | 4 | NA | NA | NA | 5 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 40 | 111 | 0.360 |
| Georgia Tech | 5.5 | NA | NA | NA | NA | 3 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 32.5 | 101 | 0.322 |
| Pitt | 11 | 2 | NA | NA | NA | 6 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 35 | 115 | 0.304 |
Takeaways:
The 14-15 year wasn't very good for the Syracuse women overall, but the regular season ACC records for field hockey and women's lacrosse are a bit deceiving. The NCAA Tournament Final Four runs that both teams made are not reflected in this table, and certainly would push the Orange a bit higher. Hopefully 2015-16 sees stronger seasons from volleyball, soccer, softball and tennis.
The Florida State Seminoles certainly enjoyed a lot of success in 2014-15. Will that continue, or will the North Carolina Tar Heels or Notre Dame Fighting Irish overtake them? Where do you see Syracuse improving in 2015-16, let us know in the comments.
