We've spent a lot of time looking at where Syracuse stands in the NCAA tournament picture, but what about the ACC Tournament picture?
Even with last night's loss to Louisville, the Syracuse Orange should be in good shape when it comes to the NCAA Tournament.
Last time we checked in, a lot of the brackets (minus ESPN's) had the Orange squarely moved up from 10-11 seed range to a solid 8-9 seed range, with some even putting 'Cuse in a seven seed. In that last discussion, HoyaSuxa noted that Patrick Stevens of the post consistently has one of the best mocks out there. Well Stevens' latest mock bracket was released yesterday and he likes the Orange as a 7 seed in the south.
Even with yesterday's less than stellar performance, I think most of these people will keep Syracuse in a 8-9 seed range. With NC State the only game left not against a potential NCAA tournament team, the Orange are probably going to need to, at the minimum, split the final 4 games of the season to remain in that range.
But the regular season isn't the only way the Orange can help themselves. The ACC Tournament will again be short a team, but that should help the Orange. Prior to yesterday's game, here's what things would have looked like down in DC:
But we're 14 games deep into the ACC sked, how the conference tournament bracket would look today pic.twitter.com/uhZfAooBYu
— Joe Giglio (@jwgiglio) February 17, 2016
The Orange are now 8th in the ACC standings after last night (7th in seeding), so that makes the final four games all the more important. Staying 6-7 in the conference avoids an early match-up with the North Carolina Tar Heels, and the Orange are still only 1.5 games out of a double bye. Should the Orange not split the final two games of the season, they'll need a solid run in D.C. (home game) to move off the "first four in" bubble.
A reminder, you can win a trip to the ACC Tournament (just a short drive from Syracuse) by posting a selfie of you in Cuse gear with the hashtags #BringYourAGame and #Contest.
