Growing up, seeing fans storm the court was one of my favorite things to watch. I loved the idea of the average Joe being able to celebrate his team’s big win with the players that made it happen, and the fact that the small school had upset the major program was an added bonus. I’m still a fan of court storming, but I do believe that the tradition has become overused. Too many fans are storming the court. Nick Fasulo has written a very entertaining article that explains his 10 rules of storming the court, but I’ve still decided to concoct my own list. In my mind, there are four requirements that need to be fulfilled to constitute a court storming:

1.     Your team must be playing at home (duh)

2.     Your team must be unranked and the underdog

3.     The team you are playing must be either ranked or your team’s biggest rival

4.     Your team can’t be in an “off year”

The last one was the hardest to put into a few words, mainly because it demands the most explaining. In short, a prestigious team that isn’t having the best of years shouldn’t have fans storming anything. This is the case for keeping Syracuse fans in their seats. In my mind, storming the court on Saturday would be no more than a reminder of how far this team has fallen in the past year. The Orange was not only expected to beat Duke in the 2014 meeting at the Dome, but was also the top team in the nation who had yet to lose a game.

Syracuse is always ranked in the top 25 if not the top 10, and one of the most highly revered programs in the nation. The fan base should be embarrassed by the fact that the Orange is expected to get blown out on Saturday. IF Syracuse is able to pull out a victory, the fans in the Dome should feel free to celebrate on the way out and once they get home. Storming the court would do nothing more than point out this team’s mediocrity and failure to live up to expectations.

Posted:  Nathan Dickinson