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Syracuse had to deal with two scares this past week: on the road against Pittsburgh and at home against NC State. Two tight ballgames, two finishes that had many across the nation wondering if the Orange were simply lucky. Even still, SU is still the number one team in the country. But there is another team creeping up behind Syracuse, gunning for the title of “best team in the country.”
A 25-0 record seems enough to vault Syracuse as the unanimous no. 1 in the nation. But not recently.
Orange Nation has its eyes on SU’s game against no. 5 Duke this weekend, a rematch of the high-scoring overtime thriller from three weeks ago. But in a hypothetical world, Syracuse and Florida would be the best matchup in college basketball right now. Yes, it’s easy to dub that game the best. No. 1 vs. No. 2. But who is the better team? What would happen if those two powerhouses met tomorrow?
The Gators are gaining more attention with each SEC win. In fact, Florida is just like Syracuse: undefeated in its conference, 12-0. With a 23-2 record, they’ve won 16 straight games. Yes, the SEC is weaker than the ACC—but not by much. Florida just handled no. 14 Kentucky on the road pretty easily to jump to that no. 2 ranking.
And that had many college basketball analysts thinking if they deserved to be no. 1, considering it took a half-court heave for the Orange to win against a ranked team.
Florida’s two losses came on the road in the non-conference match ups against ranked Wisconsin and UConn. UF’s early struggles were mainly due to the absence of two key players, point guard Scottie Wilbekin and reserve power forward Dorian Finney-Smith. Both players were suspended to begin the year, but since they’ve returned, Florida has been on a tear. The Gators are beating SEC teams by an average margin of about 14 points per game. Syracuse on the other hand is taking downs ACC teams by only about eight points.
The difference: Florida has only played one ranked team over the last two months, while Syracuse has played four.
If these two teams played tomorrow, it would be a thriller. Offensively, they play similarly. Both Syracuse and Florida like to slow down the offense pace. Neither team averages more than 65 possessions per game. That’s in the bottom 10 percent in the country. The reason why they are both successful is because they’re incredibly efficient.
Both teams have very reliable big men. Patrick Young for Florida and Rakeem Christmas for Syracuse have similar size, and judging by the way Christmas has played lately, that would be one heck of a matchup. PG’s Tyler Ennis and Scottie Wilbekin are also the two most electrifying guards in their respective conferences.
If no. 1 and no. 2 faced off, it would be an instant classic. There’s still great basketball left on the schedule for Syracuse, but here’s hoping that the Gators and the Orange somehow meet in the NCAA Tournament.
Posted by: Kevin Fitzgerald
7 responses to “The Nation‚Äôs Best: What if No. 1 Syracuse and No. 2 Florida tipped off tomorrow?”
Already the choice is Florida by some experts!! I say toss-up!!
SU FOOTBALL too please DA!!
DO NOT FORGET THE KIDS OF PSABUSEDU!! THE NCAA DID!!
Terry, its quiet on the football front right now, relax. This team has earned the spotlight and should be the only one featured from now til the tourney in mid-March.
Terry I’ve talked some football on the last thread but I would like to make a comment here about the Florida Basketball program. No doubt about it,Florida Gators have won the National Championchip twice and is considered a quality team.
Isn’t it funny how some things just never change? Syracuse has played Florida twice since they won those championships and everytime Syracuse went into those games,we were the underdogs. ESPN pundits were going crazy,Syracuse didn’t have a chance,Florida was going to run all over Syracuse and their young gun of a coach Billy Donovan was going to show Jim Boeheim just how the game was suppose to be played.
Well if I remember correctly,didn’t Syracuse win both of those games? Some things just don’t change and some people(sports pundits)never learn from their mistakes.
Starting with the game tonight against Boston College,the rest of the season is going to be brutal for Syracuse. You mentioned that the SEC is weaker than the ACC in basketball this year. Is the SEC a bunch of high school teams disquised as college teams? I’d take a Syracuse Orangemen Team any day of the week over a Florida Gator Team. We’re that damn good.
SU wins… Billy D will try his patented press he learned from Pitiono
This game Saturday at Duke will be the toughest game thus far for the Orange.A away game against an elite program and a HOF coach who got beat the first time around and doesn’t figure ti lose again this year against Jimmy’s team. Unless a big time offense suddenly shows up in NC Saturday the team will suffer its first loss of the season giving Florida the top spot for sure.
Forget Florida. Duke is the Orange killer this week. Its asking a lot to expect the Orange to beat them TWICE in one season. Also think playoffs about the playing again. Its going to be brutal making SU vs Georgetown seem like kidder ball in a gym.
Hamerhead or what ever you are, we had to hear about SUBB team during the SUFB season regularly so stop your whining. Plenty of news/stories out there on SUFB.
Where’s the SUFB stories DA. What’s the real story on SU’s only 4 star commit!
Only a couple of NYS HSFB player candidates that so far SU is interested in. WHY??
I told you guys don’t change those uni’s. WHY??? Your tempting fate!! Nice going administration. Fate just lost a game!! YOU DO NOT CHANGE THE DICE IN MID GAME!! STUPID MOVE!! Yes superstitious, but why!!
Great Run!! But in the long run its got to help the pressure end of it. A good team would win the next one!! But to BC come on!! NO offense at all!!
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