The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team didn’t receive a single vote in this year’s AP preseason poll. Nor did its name appear in the USA Today preseason coaches poll. With only three scholarship players that suited up last season for the Orange, there are many questions and unknowns regarding the 2017-18 squad, thus the lack of preseason hype surrounding the team.
But based on past results, that could be a good sign.
If one looks at Syracuse basketball’s season-by-season results over the past 15 years, there is a common trend: the team’s performance often differs significantly from preseason expectations or its NCAA Tournament seeding, whether it’s for better or for worse.