NOTHING MAKES ANY SENSE!

Jonny's testing the waters, Jonny's signing with an agent, Jonny might be ... staying?

Sure, if you believe the Associated Press. This went across the wire about 15 minutes ago:

CHICAGO (AP) — Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim says Big East tournament MVP Jonny Flynn might not be headed to the NBA along with teammates Eric Devendorf and Paul Harris.

Boeheim said Flynn's status is "kind of up in the air."

Last week the school announced that all three players planned to make themselves eligible for the draft.

The coach said Devendorf and Harris are virtual locks to leave, but Flynn might still opt to come back to school.

Flynnled the team in scoring at 17.4 points per game and set an Orange record by playing 1,418 minutes in his sophomore year. After two seasons, he ranks seventh in career assists (439) at Syracuse.

He indicated he will not hire an agent, giving him the option to return to school.

Moral of the story: Nothing is real until April 26 rolls around, or signed agent papers are in my hands (or the hands of someone more important).

Devendorf officially kinda sorta pretty much definitely coming back next year.

Or so says his father, Curt. Mike Waters, what do you have for us?!

"Eric loves Syracuse,'' Curt Devendorf said. "We've talked, but he doesn't plan on leaving. As of right now, he plans on coming back next year.''

"Syracuse is very important to Eric,'' his father said. "He's getting good grades. We enjoy coming to the games. Right now, he's going to be back.''

Well, as long as you're enjoying them, Curt. That's all that matters.

In theory, this is fantastic news. Devendorf is a great player, and next year he could provide something this team has sorely lacked the past two years - a senior leader. Sorry, Kristof doesn't count here. But seriously, what's the deal with this "as of right now" garbage? Make up your minds! I'm not sure what it would take at this point to swing Devendorf in the other direction, but of the Big 3, he's clearly the frontrunner for the Most Likely To Return superlative.

There's also this:

Several sources close to the SU basketball program have indicated that Flynn plans on returning for his junior year. Flynn will enter his name in the NBA draft to gauge his draft status, but he would have to be a top 10 pick; or lottery pick at worst, to convince him to remain in the draft.

Sounds promising. I'll take it. Anything else?

Attempts to reach Harris have been unsuccessful.

Oh.

Take a hike, Andrew Robinson.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Two years ago, Andrew Robinson was the starting quarterback for the Syracuse University football team. Last year, he lost the starting gig to Cameron Dantley. And Monday morning, Robinson was sent packing from quarterback camp, as Orange Head Coach Doug Marrone decided Robinson would best serve the team as a tight end.

A rough start to the week, for sure. But Robinson was just getting started.

Monday afternoon, Marrone announced that Robinson would also be moved into a freshman dormitory, where he'll live with two exchange students with poor hygiene, lose all dining hall privileges, and have his girlfriend, clothing, and all other material possessions - including his Nintendo Wii - transferred to redshirt freshman Ryan Nassib, Syracuse's new starting quarterback.

"We feel that this is how Andrew will best help the program," Marrone said. "All told, he took the adversity in stride. I thought he'd be a little pissed. I mean, his girlfriend was hot."

Robinson will also handle Nassib's day-to-day duties, including attending class, taking notes, and completing all required coursework. The senior, however, is excited about the opportunity to excel at the tight end position.

"I'll do whatever it takes to help the team win," a clearly exhausted, flustered, and famished Robinson said.

Marrone, meanwhile, was singing a slightly different tune.

"I'll be honest, Andrew doesn't have a shot in hell of seeing the field as a tight end," he said. "I basically threw him over there so he'd get out of my way and stop whining. He's got a lot of determination, hustle, and want-to, but not much in the way of, you know, football ability.

"The last thing we need here is another Robinson in charge of anything," Marrone added. "Well, except for Ryan's general needs and desires. Andrew is responsible for all of that."

Jim Boeheim may or may not think you're an idiot.

Fast forward to the 2:46 mark of this first clip, when an unidentified reporter asks Jonny Flynn about his status going forward.

Note: Based on previous questions in the video and my expensive voice recognition software, I believe the questioner is Steve Andress, of WAER in Syracuse. Steve also called a couple games on ESPNU this year and does work for Palestra.net.




Now, fast forward to 4:54 of this clip for Jim Boeheim's thoughts on this person.



Apologies for the ridiculous spacing in this post. As far as I can tell, there is absolutely no way to remove it.

And for what it's worth, Jim's right.

'Cuse Gameday Notes

OKLAHOMA HISTORY

Syracuse leads the all time series with Oklahoma 2-1.

Syracuse's 2003 win over Oklahoma in the tournament was the only post-season game between the teams.

'Cuse has never played @ Oklahoma.

Game Results:
- 12/23/1948...Syracuse 55 Oklahoma 49 (Leading scorer: Ed Stickel.)
- 1/7/1984...Oklahoma 98 Syracuse 91 (Sooners led by Wayman Tisdale)
- 3/30/2003...Syracuse 63 Oklahoma 47 (duh.)

SWEET 16 HISTORY

Results accumulated with the help of OrangeHoops and, of course, Wikipedia.

Syracuse's all-time Sweet 16 record: 7-10

1957: def. Lafayette 75-71
1966: def. Davidson 94-78
1973: lost to Maryland 91-75
1975: def. North Carolina 78-76
1977: lost to Charlotte 81-59 (ouch)
1979: lost to Penn 84-76
1980: lost to Iowa 88-77
1984: lost to Virginia 63-55
1987: def. Florida 87-81
1989: def. Missouri 83-80
1990: lost to Minnesota 82-75
1994: lost to Missouri 98-88
1996: def. Georgia 83-81
1998: lost to Duke 80-67
2000: lost to Michigan State 75-58
2003: def. Auburn 79-78
2004: lost to Alabama 80-71

Oklahoma's all-time Sweet 16 record: 4-4

1979: lost to Indiana State 93-72
1985: def. Louisiana Tech 86-84
1987: lost to Iowa 93-91
1988: def. Louisville 108-98
1989: lost to Virginia 86-80
1999: lost to Michigan State 54-46
2002: def. Arizona 88-67
2003: def. Butler 65-54

CBS Sports Dot Com Preview

I really only pass this along because it is people talking about Friday Night's matchup with Oklahoma. It's actually not that good of a preview and Steve Lappas is one of the most annoying humans on Earth, which may be why he has been relegated to only doing things in the online world for CBS.

Your Pre-Game/Tournament Inspiration

This is the second half of a two-part YouTube series titled "Remembering Past Syracuse Glory in the NCAA Tournament."

I've watched this video hundreds of times, and I still get chills every time.

The Cuse is in the house!

This is the first half of a two-part YouTube series titled "Remembering Past Syracuse Glory in the NCAA Tournament."

Tournament Week Radio

A few ESPN Radio appearances to note this week as we lead up to the tournament...

- Jonny Flynn made an appearance on Tirico and Van Pelt's show.

- Jim Boeheim was clearly making the rounds this week, visiting with Mike & Mike, The Herd, and The Michael Kay Show. The Michael Kay link sends you to a 43 minute podcast, but don't worry, Boeheim is right at the top of the show.

Scoop and Wes are back for more.

Every day, I check the Syracuse Post-Standard's Orange Basketball blog in hopes of finding a new episode of "The Scoop and Wes Show." Usually, I end up leaving disappointed. But not today. Enjoy what could be the season (series?) finale:

The Scoop and Wes Show With Donna Ditota

Who's #1?

With the recent conclusion of the Big East Tournament and the upcoming NCAA tournament, I am in complete tournament mode right now. I got to thinking about other possible tourneys, and then it dawned on me: what if there could be a tournament to decide the greatest Syracuse basketball team of all time? Well, thanks to the magicians at WhatIfSports, we can (sort of) find out!

Note: The only teams available on the website before the 1999-2000 team are the 86-87 and 95-96 Final Four teams, so we don't exactly get to include every team, but it'll be close.

I decided to take it upon myself to create a 12 team bracket out of the 12 available 'Cuse teams on W.I.S., then play it out Big East Tournament style (aka top 4 seeds get a bye). To determine seedings, I went by how successful each team was.

The #1 seed was obviously the 2002-03 team. Seeds 2 and 3 were the other Final Four teams (1986-87 taking the 2 spot). I awarded the 4th seed to the 1999-00 squad because they were Big East regular season champions. The 5 and 6 seeds were given to the 2005 and 2006 Big East tournament champions, 2005 taking home the 5 because they were overall a better team than the '06 miracle squad.

The 7 seed went to this year's team because they had the best overall record of the remaining 6. The rest of the seeds: 8 - 2004, 9 - 2001, 10 - 2007, 11 - 2002, 12 - 2008.

Now that I have the tournament seeded, time to begin!

8 Cuse '04 - 88
9 Cuse '01 - 78
- 2001 takes a 6 point lead into the half. With 8:32 left, McNamara puts 2004 up 62-61, their first lead since their 7-5 lead early in the game. 2004 has control the rest of the game. '01 doesn't give up, having it within 5 with 32 seconds to go, but '04 just ends up being too much for '01 to handle.

5 Cuse '05 - 74
12 Cuse '08 - 73
- A far more exciting contest than the first one. After taking a 2 point lead into the half, '05 is able to extend their 2nd half margin to as much as 16 points. With 5 minutes left in the game, '05 still held a 12 point advantage, but then the '08 squad stormed back into it, getting within 1 with 2:15 left on a Flynn jumper. '08 was never able to get a lead however, and McNamara was able to sink clutch free throws. Donte Greene hits a 3 at the buzzer, but it's too little, too late.

7 Cuse '09 - 67
10 Cuse '07 - 54
- This was a tale of two halves. '07 actually took a 5 point lead into the break, but '09 was able to quickly turn things around in the second half. After taking the lead away with 16:24 left in the game, '09 never relinquished the lead again.

6 Cuse '06 - 61
11 Cuse ' 02 - 60
- This game was a defensive struggle in the second half. With 4:27 left in the game, Josh Wright hits a jumper to tie the game at 59. There were no more points put on the board for nearly four minutes until DeShaun Williams gets fouled by Arinze Onuaku with 31 seconds left, going to the line and hitting one. Apparently looking to make up for his foul moments before, Arinze hits the game winning shot with 12 seconds left. Craig Forth misses a layup with 5 seconds left, and that wraps it up.

Side note: Until running this sim, I had completely forgotten that Arinze was on the 2005-06 team.

There were a couple close calls in the first round, but no upsets as we move on to the quarterfinals of the B.E.S.T. tournament (Best Ever Syracuse Team - I'm so clever).

1 Cuse '03 - 82
8 Cuse '04 - 69
- Losing Kueth Duany and Carmelo Anthony was obviously way too much for the '04 team to handle. '03 actually doesn't come up with their first lead of the game until there is 2:27 left in the first half, but once they get it, they never give it up. The champs move on.

4 Cuse '00 - 82
5 Cuse '05 - 77
- This one actually came very close to going to overtime. McNamara does something out of the ordinary for him and misses a potential game tying 3 with 7 seconds left in the contest. Ryan Blackwell comes away with the rebound and immediately gets fouled. He sinks 2, which ends up sealing the deal for '00.

2 Cuse '87 - 82
7 Cuse '09 - 70
- Apparently the young '09 team was just too awestruck by the '87 team. '87 goes into the half only up 6, but the second half is never really close, with the margin hanging in double digits for the majority of it.

3 Cuse '96 - 65
6 Cuse '06 - 64
- The McNamara Magic comes to an end - but not without a fight. '06 storms back from a 14 point halftime deficit to almost steal victory away from the favored '96 squad. John Wallace hits 1 of 2 free throws with 5 seconds left to elevate the '96 lead to 4 points, thus making a Terrence Roberts 3(?) at the buzzer pointless.

Heading into the tournament semi-finals, the higher seed has won every match-up. With the remaining teams, it would seem obvious that this isn't going to change. Not so fast my friend!

1 Cuse '03 - 89
4 Cuse '00 - 91
- The game of the tournament couldn't even finish in regulation, it took overtime for the '00 squad to upset the one and only group of National Champions in Syracuse history. With 49 seconds left, Jason Hart his 2 freebies to put '00 up by the winning margin. With around 30 seconds left, Warrick gets sent to the line for a 1-and-1. Anyone who knows anything about Syracuse basketball knows what happens next: Hak misses the front end. '00 gets the rebound and is able to run out the clock, securing a spot in the B.E.S.T tourney finals.

Side note: The result of this game is giving me a small sense of redemption, seeing the 2000 team beat the actual first SU champion. I remember believing from the moment the 1998-99 season ended up until Syracuse got scorched in the second half of their Sweet 16 meeting with Michigan State in 2000 that this team was going to win the national title. With Hart, Blackwell, and Etan Thomas all coming back as seniors, I thought it was destiny. I will admit right now to anyone reading this that Syracuse's loss to Mich St. in that tournament was one of the two sporting event results that ever caused me to cry.

2 Cuse '87 - 92
3 Cuse '96 - 96
- What a coincidence, the '96 team puts up 96 points. This was a game that wasn't really close late, as Sherman Douglas hit a 3 at the buzzer just to allow '87 to pull within a final margin of 4 points. John Wallace was a beast in this game, going 8-14 from the field and 9-11 from the line, scoring 28 points while adding 8 boards. I can't in good conscious bring up John Wallace without including a youtube link to one of the greatest moments of all time.

And so it comes down to this. The 1996 Orangemen vs the 2000 Orangemen, for the title of #1 Syracuse team in the history of the world...

3 Cuse '96 - 79
4 Cuse '00 - 69
- After an exciting tournament, it ends very anti-climactically. After allowing '00 to go into the half up 5, '96 takes care of business in the second, outscoring '00 by 15 points. Free throws tell the story in this one, as '96 went 17-19 from the line, while '00 only went 9-19.

So there you have it. After four rounds of battle, the 1996 Syracuse Orangemen are crowned kings Central New York.

Somebody link this to John Wallace, Todd Burgan, Lazarus Sims, Otis Hill, Jason Cipolla, and Marius Janulis and let them know they won something.

Postgame Presser Notes

I just happened to catch the tale end of Syracuse's post game press conference. Boeheim and Flynn were on the podium answering questions. I couldn't hear the questions, but I noted a few things they said in their responses.

Flynn:
- Would definitely trade individual award for team trophy in tournament. It's all about the team's achievements.
- Guys like who don't really get the media attention - guys who most of the country hadn't heard of before this week - were huge for them, guys like Kristof and Rick. Says without guys like them, there is no way they would have made it through the 7 overtimes in 2 nights.
- Despite losing tonight, a lot of good is going to come out of this. A lot of guys on the team got a big confidence boost this week.

Boeheim:
- No doubt they will be fine next week. The last couple times they went on these Big East tournament runs, they were riding one or two guys. For example, in 2006 Gerry was absolutely wiped out heading into the first weekend of the NCAA tournament. Doesn't envision this being a problem for this team. He thinks they will be rested by Tuesday - would be completely ready to play if they had to on Tuesday.
- Adding to Flynn's last comment: It's not just this week, the past two and a half weeks have been tremendous for this team.

The Big East Championship Game: Diaried.

I doubt diaried is actually a word.

At any rate - after the past two days, I'm feeling inspired heading into this championship game, so I'm going to take a page out the Bill Simmons' book of things to write and keep a running diary of the game tonight. You obviously know the story heading into the title game, so let's just get to it.

8:40 - A friend of the blog, John, makes a good point. There has been an "epic 1-seed fail" in each the Pac-10, Big 12, Big Ten, and ACC tournaments. This is a trend that appears to be working in Syracuse's favor.

Yes, I know the SEC is not on that list even though they apply. The point of the exercise was to note major conference 1-seed troubles, not mid-majors.

8:44 - Rece Davis reminds us that Jonny Flynn has played 147 of a possible 155 minutes so far in the Big East tournament. More importantly, he is ten minutes shy of the record for minutes played in a Big East tournament. Even more importantly, did you know that Darryl Watkins is the current record holder? This is mind boggling to me.

8:54 - Six minutes to tip off! I'm giddy right now. All day I've had this feeling that this is Syracuse's game to lose. I don't care if Louisville went 16-2 in conference this season and beat Syracuse in the Dome. The team we've been watching this week has been entirely different than that team we saw for most of the regular season conference schedule.

8:59 - Hubert Davis picks Syracuse. Digger Phelps picks Louisville. I knew I liked Hubert more.

9:01 - John: "that L sign is fucking [stupid]." I agree.

9:03 - Jay Bilas is talking about how great Louisville's press has been lately. Seems like the last thing a tired team like Syracuse needs is to face a good full court press. This could be trouble.

9:07 - We get to see player intros! That's pretty sweet. So much for that 9:00 PM tip ESPN was promising us. I'm over it.

9:11 - Jonny Flynn is the greatest human on this planet. That's all I have to say.

9:12 - Tipoff!

9:13 - DEVO! Two threes already. He came to play.

9:16 - Nine unanswered for Louisville. So much for that great start. This full court press is definitely going to be an issue tonight. Poor ball-handling team vs. very good defensive team...meh.

9:22 - ESPN has been glorifying the wrong player all week...what have they been thinking? Kristof is the real hero!

9:23 - Make that Rick Jackson. Six straight points for Agent Double Zero.

9:24 - Jonny Flynn is on the bench! Watkins is definitely paying off Boeheim to help preserve his record.

9:28 - Well, the press is doing its job so far for Louisville for the most part.

9:30 - ESPN runs the following stat: "Syracuse outscored 7-2 while Flynn was on the bench." I vote they don't bench him again this game. He can rest tomorrow.

9:31 - Dan Shulman apparently thinks all foreign white people look the same, given his inability to tell the difference between Kristof and Rautins.

9:35 - Under 8:00 media time out and it's a three point game. I don't think we could be asking for much more right now.

9:38 - Andy RRRRRRAUTINS! And for the 137th time in the past four days, Jay Bilas tells us how impressed he is with how quickly Andy Rautins can set his feet.

9:42 - TIME OUT LOUISVILLE! Eric Devendorf has to be under strong consideration for tournament MVP, right? I imagine if Syracuse wins they'll probably give it to Jonny Flynn, which is completely fine obviously, but Devo has an argument.

9:47 - G-MAC!

9:50 - Oh shit. I hope Kristof is okay.

9:51 - He's up and walking off. Thank God. That was extremely painful to watch, can't imagine how it felt to actually experience it.

9:53 - Arinze Onuaku should never be allowed to touch the ball unless he is standing right next to the basket.

9:55 - Syracuse ahead 38-30 at the half. Kristof is okay. Syracuse is clearly outplaying the Big East regular season champions. I couldn't be happier right now.

9:56 - Poetry in Moten text message: "ACCEPTABLE FIRST 20 MINUTES." I couldn't have said it better myself.

9:58 - Joe Lunardi thinks Memphis has passed UConn in the world of number one seeds. Joe Lunardi is WRONG. All of the teams that should have been considered as possible teams to crack the UNC/Pitt/UConn/Louisville grouping of four have lost already. Memphis should not have been considered. Weird that they would be completely average against real competition in November and December, then awesome against a completely overmatched conference since that time. Let's get real here.

10:07 - The College Gameday crew is discussing the Big Ten...and how unimpressive they are. Rece Davis notes that they have done "good things" on paper, but really, it's all been against each other. Thank you for finally realizing what most college basketball fans have known all season. It is going to be a travesty when the Big Ten has more teams in the tournament than the Big East. It is going to be hilarious when most of them don't escape the first weekend.

10:11 - Ahhh these Sonic commercials are killing me. It would be great if there was a Sonic anywhere near me so I could actually eat there. (Googles Sonic locations.) The closest one is 67 miles away. Thanks a lot, Sonic.

10:13 - And we're back! The second half is under way...

10:14 - ...and it took 11 seconds of game time for a foul to get called on Syracuse.

10:17 - Kristof is back! Hooray! (If I had told you in December that we would be excited to have Kristof enter a game, would you have laughed in my face or laughed really hard in my face?)

10:18 - And Louisville has already come back and tied the game.

10:19 - I may have to retract my previous statement about being excited to have Kristof back after that ridiculous play.

10:23 - Kristof to Jackson! That has been one popular play tonight.

10:24 - Under 16 media time out. Tie game. Obviously every Syracuse fan on the planet is thinking overtime right now.

10:25 - Winner comment from John on this topic: "...and you know Cuse would have insane swagger if it does. They'd just be like you know what? Yeah. Let's do this shit." Hell yes!

10:29 - No call on a Louisville travel. Thanks refs.

10:30 - Wow. Four shots at a 3 on one trip, three of them by Rautins, and they come away with nothing? Louisville lucked out there.

10:31 - Another lazy pass, another steal, Louisville extends run to 20-3. Ugh. Time out 'Cuse.

10:34 - Justin Thomas sighting!

10:35 - Syracuse has to do something here. Let's get it to single digits before the under 12 time out.

10:36 - Well, it's still at 11, but Kristof is going to the line when we come back. Dan Shulman has been waiting for a game and a half to go into a break asking the question "is it finally all weighing down on the Orange?" I say they have one good run at this thing left in them.

10:39 - Come back from media time out and Flynn is still on the bench? I guess the question the could begin floating out there now: at what point does Boeheim think about resting guys for tournament purposes if they can't get this game closer?

10:41 - Flynn back in the game. No more bench for him I say!

10:43 - Devo misses fast break layup, Flynn can't handle the follow. That was a big missed opportunity there.

10:46 - Under 8:00 media time out, Louisville up 10, Rick Jackson heading to the line when we get back. I just feel like Syracuse has come way too far to go down without a fight - I still hold to my 10:36 comment that they have one good run at this thing left in them.

10:52 - PRETTY PLAY BY KRISTOF! Great spin move, makes the basket and the foul.

10:52 - Too bad they suck at free throws.

10:53 - Great ball movement followed by a Rick Jackson missed layup. Come on!

10:55 - They are all gassed right now. I'm not sure they have enough energy to make a run right now.

10:57 - Boeheim uses their last time out, Louisville up 10. Even though they are out of time outs, they desperately needed a short rest here.

10:58 - Wow, Syracuse has only shot 28% in the second half. They have looked ice cold all 17 minutes so far, so I believe it.

11:03 - Devo just set the record for most points in a Big East tournament! There's a bright spot in this late deficit at least.

11:04 - Flynn hits a jumper to cut the lead to 7...

11:05 - You have to call the travel there!!! God dammit. That would have been a huge momentum swing if Syracuse got that call there.

11:08 - Why are they fouling already? I thought they had that trap set up well.

11:08 - Oh. Because Louisville is a weak free throw shooting team too.

11:09 - Boeheim pulls Flynn/Devo/Rautins for a standing O. Good move there.

11:13 - Louisville 76, Syracuse 66. That was still a hell of a week for Syracuse.

11:14 - Despite losing, Jonny Flynn was named tournament MVP. Awesome, well deserved.

Final thoughts: It would have been nice to win that game, but you could really tell during the whole second half that the past few days had finally caught up to them. You know what, though? For NCAA tournament purposes, I think a loss was better. They proved this week that they are a team to be reckoned with, and now they are going to come out with a chip on their shoulder next week. I've believed all season that this team can roll with any team in the nation, and now they are playing their best basketball of the season at the right time. I can't imagine they will come out and do anything but play inspired basketball when the tourney comes around. Of course I could always be wrong and they'll just get upset in the first round (let's not forget, this is still Syracuse we are talking about).

Daryl Gross 1, Rest of New York 0

When Daryl Gross arrived on the Syracuse University campus, he came with a dream. A dream to re-brand the Syracuse athletic department as more than just a city-wide, or regional team. He wanted all of New York - specifically, he wanted New York City. He put advertisements on top of taxis, and billboards on buildings, all in hopes of making Syracuse "New York's College Team."

Well, Daryl, your dream is now reality.

It began Wednesday evening, with this gem from Eric Devendorf, regarding the Orange's near-brawl with Seton Hall and Madison Square Garden:

“It’s our home floor, really, and when somebody knocks down our teammate or gets in the face of our teammate, we’re going to be there to help him and that was the case tonight,” he said. “So I guess they made a mistake.”

To hell with Seton Hall, which is located less than 18 miles from the Garden. To hell with St. John's, which plays some of its home games at MSG. This is ours now, thanks for paying the rent for so long. You can keep doing that part.

But the real kicker came following Syracuse's win over West Virginia on Friday. I'm sure Gross is wetting himself right now with excitement.

"We're New York's team,'' said guard Eric Devendorf.

Granted, he forgot to say "college" in between "New York's," and "team," but I'm sure Daryl will let it slide. Hell, this might be better. Nobody likes the Yankees, Mets, Bills, or any of those other garbage teams anyways.

I think Eric might have a place waiting for him in the Syracuse marketing department if this whole basketball thing doesn't end up working out.

Wow.

That was, without a doubt, the single greatest basketball game I've ever seen. Better than the title game in 2003. Better than any of the McNamara games in 2006. I'm officially speechless. The game has been over for about a half hour, but my adrenaline is pumping far too much to fall asleep quite yet.

Just throw this one on ESPN Classic and put it on a loop until the end of time.

Even ESPN.com's Game Flow can't handle all the awesomeness.

Jimmy B after the game:

I'm more proud of this team, tonight, than any team I've ever coached, because we had nothing. We had nobody out there for a long time. Connecticut had their good players for a couple, three overtimes. We finally got them out of there and then it was kind of even. But the heart we showed coming back from six points down in one overtime, the plays we made, I've never been prouder of a team than these guys tonight. They just kept fighting, they would not lose this game. I'm very proud of this team. I can't say enough about them. This guy next to you (Jonny Flynn), he's got the biggest heart of anybody I've ever seen.

He was unbelievable the whole game. I mean, he was really spectacular. I don't know how he could last that long, and do what he did. I really don't. Andy made some threes, I don't know where he got them from. You know, you draw up plays and you just hope. Tonight, they worked. It's because of these kids, they were unbelievable tonight.

Well said, Jim. Seriously, they just won a six overtime game against the fourth-ranked team in the country. The Orange didn't have a lead in the first five extra frames. Justin Thomas played significant minutes.

Wow, just wow.

SHOWTIME!

Well, showtime isn't for another 7 hours or so, but it's never too early to relive the greatest tournament performance of all time to get fired up.

(Fast-forward to the 1:32 mark.)

They Cared!

Final in OT: Syracuse 86, Marquette 79

I am in complete shock that they withstood Marquette's late run and didn't lose in regulation. I guess that's the life of rooting for Syracuse, assume the worst - but the worst didn't happen for once, thankfully.

This day really couldn't have gone much better for the Cuse. A legit conference road win to close the season ... clinch the 6 seed ... Seton Hall comes back and beats Cincinnati to grab the 11 seed, meaning Syracuse plays the winner of Hall/South Florida on Wednesday in the Big East tournament.

The only thing I can think of that would make this day better: DePaul earning their first conference win by beating Georgetown later on. Go Blue Demons!

Will They Care?

In a matter of minutes, Syracuse is going to take the court in Milwaukee attempting to do something that they have yet to do this season: win a legit Big East road game.

During the non-conference schedule they were able to beat soon to be Big 12 champion Kansas at a "neutral site" game in Kansas City. A few weeks later they were able to defeat a Memphis team on the road that is now ranked #5 in the nation - and hasn't suffered defeat since losing to Syracuse.

And yet, Syracuse can't seem to beat any worthwhile teams on the road in the Big East. It's not just that they can't beat them - they can't even keep it close. They lost by 14 at Georgetown (which at the time didn't seem like a big deal because the Hoyas were still considered a good team, who knows what happened to them). They lost by 18 at Pittsburgh. Only lost by 6 in Providence, but this was a game in which they never got closer than 5 for the last 17 minutes of the game, and were down double digits for a while in that second half. They lost by 17 on the road against Villanova. Obviously after all this, they weren't going to have a chance on the road against UConn (lost by 14).

Sure, it can be argued that a lot of this has to do with how tough the Big East is, and when you are playing so many difficult teams, it'll be hard to win on the road. Beating good teams on their home court is just difficult in general.

But that is not the issue here. The issue is, to put it bluntly, giving a damn. In all those aforementioned road losses, Syracuse looked like they couldn't care less about playing basketball. They would play lackadaisical defense, leading to being unable to get any defensive stops when they were needed. Combine this with spending entire games taking stupid three pointers...needless to say, games would often spin out of control quickly.

So what will happen when 'Cuse takes the court today, on the road, against a decent team? Marquette playing without Dominic James - possibly their best player - should make them beatable. A win and Syracuse finishes 6th in the Big East, a loss and they finish 8th. While it shouldn't matter in terms of making the tournament, it could have a big effect on where they end up getting seeded.

Let's hope Syracuse realizes the importance of today's game and they show up to play. When they do show up and play like they care, they can play with anyone in the country. But it's just that, a question we always have to ask ourselves when Syracuse goes on the road: will they care?

Sounds of Section 312.

A few weeks ago, I was asked who my favorite player was on this year's Syracuse basketball team. To be honest, I was stumped. Jonny Flynn is the superstar, Arinze Onuaku is the powerful low-post, Andy Rautins is the Great White 3-Point Hope, and Eric Devendorf is three times better than Chris Quinn. Every player seems to have something unique about them, something that I can appreciate. Even Sean Williams, with his ability receive tens of thousands of dollars a year from Syracuse University and provide nothing in return.

Today, though, I finally found my answer: Paul Harris.

It's not because of his knack for rebounding (though he has that), or his improved offensive game (he's got that too). It's because Paul Harris is Paul Harris. He eats popcorn during games, he tosses his headband into the stands after a big dunk, he releases his own rap videos on YouTube, he even shoots 3-pointers whenever he damn well pleases, just because he can (couldn't find a video link for that last one. hmm...). He's an entertainer. Take your eyes off Harris for one second of a game, and you're likely to miss something, or turn around to see a sweatband hurtling towards your face.

Jim Boeheim certainly rarely takes his eyes off Harris, and last night, the Hall of Fame coach offered Paul on of his fiercest toungue-lashings since "10 Fucking Games" in 2006. You see, Jimmy B. isn't as big a fan of Paul's propensisty for perimeter shooting, and let him know about it after an errant 3 midway through the second half (it should be noted, Syracuse grabbed the offensive rebound and Flynn immediately hit a 3 of his own).

Boeheim walked halfway to mid-court during a Rutgers timeout, waving his arms and sharing his general feelings with Harris. Coincidentally, I planted a microphone near the court and was able to hear the entire conversation from my perch in section 312 (pictured above):

Boeheim: Paul, I strongly disagree with your insistence on continuing to attempt 3-pointers, despite only succeeding 26.3% of the time.

Harris: I respect your opinion, Jim, but I think I will continue to do whatever it is that I please.

Boeheim: Paul, you'd really be better off driving to the basket, or ...

Harris (eyes begin wandering into the crowd): How high do you think I could throw my headband into the stands?

Boeheim: Paul, are you even going to pretend to listen?

Harris: I'd say at least the 200 level. Maybe 300 if I really wind up.

Boeheim: Remember what I told you about screwing around during games?!

Harris: Maybe I could use it as a slingshot. That'll add distance.

Boeheim: Paul!!

Harris (runs back onto court, adjusting headband for optimal grab and sling): Later, Jimmy.

Boeheim: Motherfucker.

Blow Out City Baby!

In the last 8 days, Syracuse has managed to accomplish something that no other Syracuse team has done before:

Win three straight Big East games by 20+ points.

Thanks to the fine folks over at OrangeHoops.org I was able to quickly look through every Syracuse schedule for the past 30 years to figure this out. The closest any Orange team came to pulling this off before was during the 1985-86 season when they won 3 straight by 20 or more during the Big East schedule, but the third game in that streak came against Fairfield. Some would argue that beating Fairfield to complete that streak would be the equivalent of defeating Rutgers to complete this streak, but that's beside the point.

Hopefully this little three game stretch is a sign of things to come for Syracuse. The last time a Syracuse team was able to pull off a streak of at least 3 straight 20+ point victories against any form of opponent? The magical 2002-03 Championship team - when they went out and did it six consecutive times.

It is also entirely possible that this streak just means Syracuse is going to play Kansas at some point in the tournament. The other team this decade to pull off such a streak was the 00-01 team, which went on to lose to Kansas in the second round of the tournament by 29 points.