I think it's fair to say that the Syracuse basketball team has had one of the most interesting seasons in recent memory. Between the promising start in the beginning of the season to the heartbreak of Coach Boeheim leaving in the middle of the year due to a ban from the NCAA, it was definitely a rollercoaster of a year for the Orange.
Many say the 'Cuse got lucky that they were even chosen to be in the tournament because of the poor play down the last stretch of the season. After exiting the ACC Tournament in the first around against a slighty-above-average Pittsburgh team, it looked certain that Syracuse wouldn't be getting its name called on Selection Sunday.
In a shocking turn of events, the committee decided to let the Hall of Fame coach's team into the round of 64, placing them as a 10 seed against a 7-seeded Dayton Bombers in the first round. Blowing out the team from Ohio 70-51, clearly the team was making a statement about why they should be in the tournament.
The next game came against Middle Tennessee (that Cinderella that upset Michigan State and forced me to shred by bracket and cry along with millions of others). Nonetheless, 'Cuse dealed with the Blue Raiders as easily as they sealed with Dayton, beating them by 25. This personally shocked me. I don't want to say I thought SU was going to lose that game, but I for sure thought it was going to be a more highly contested game.
Coming off the upset I expected Middle Tennessee to be fired up, but they actually fell flat. Now Syracuse was in the Sweet 16 and I was actually starting to take them seriously.
Next was Gonzaga and I for sure thought they would lose. My thought was that Kyle Wiltjer would greeting the 2-3 zone with open arms and punish the Syracuse defense. This was not the case, and 'Cuse won ANOTHER game (this run is starting to get remarkable now).
Next was the number one seed in the region, Virginia. In my mind, if they win this game, this is just insane. Virginia beat Syracuse in the regular season and had two of the better players in the tourney, in London Perrantes and Malcolm Brogdon.
This didn't matter though! Syracuse beat their ACC rival in one of the craziest second half comebacks I've ever seen in my life. The Orange were down by 16 at one point and I remember saying to myself, "it's over." But Malachi Richardson, was not over. The outstanding freshman dropped 21 of his 23 points in the second half and Boeheim's team climbed all the way back to beat the Cavaliers 68-62.
Now they are in the Final Four. A place they haven't been since 2013. The boys haven't won the trophy since Carmelo Anthony's magical 2003 season, but they have a good chance of taking the title again.
With the way this year of college basketball has been going any of these four teams has a shot of winning it all. Especially Syracuse who has had their backs against the wall from the very beginning.
So here comes my advice. If you don't have a team to root for in the Final Four, bleed Orange! Hop on the bandwagon and experience this incredible run the Orange have gone on because we might not see another cinderella story like this for a very long time.
Oh. And root for the 'cuse women team. They're doing some pretty major things as well.