Of course regular season polls don't matter. That said...
The Orange may or may not deserve their spot in the rankings depending on who you ask (as usual) but there's no denying that SU keeps on winning and that's why they're the No. 4 team in all the land this week in the AP. The move up has more to do with UConn's loss to Pitt, though the Orange's continued ability not to lose basketball games also factored in.
Nothing too crazy in terms of voter irregularity this week. Everyone has Syracuse somewhere between No. 3 and No. 5. Of those No. 5 voters, you already know about Jeff Goodman and he's joined by Elton Alexander and Jason Franchuk, who both have Pitt No. 4.
Pitt is right behind the Orange at No. 6 followed by No. 7 Villanova, No. 8 UConn, No. 13 Georgetown, No. 14 Notre Dame (who beat Georgetown) an No. 24 Cincinnati. Louisville is just outside the rankings at the proverbial No. 26.
Over in the Coaches Poll, the Orange are also No. 4. They're followed by No. 5 Pitt, No. 7 Villanova, No. 9 UConn, No. 13 Georgetown, No. 15 Notre Dame (who beat Georgetown), No. 23 Louisville and No. 25 Cincinnati. That's eight Big East teams in the Top 25. Just, as the kids say, sayin'.
What would arbitrary rankings be without some Bracketology? Lunardi put out his first brackets of the new year, lo and b4ehold the Orange are sitting pretty at a No. 1 seed. Hampton has been slotted in as our opponent and you can pretty much set that in stone. No way these brackets change much between now and March...
The Orange are also No. 1 in Sports Illustrated's brackets and await the winner of Austin Peay and North Texas. We wait with baited breath.
If you weren't already excited for Georgetown-Syracuse, let me throw this little nugget out there for you. The Hoyas and Orange are currently No. 1 and No. 2 in the RPI Rankings. And I'm sure Georgetown fans won't let us forget that until we beat them for the top spot.
Since we're talking SU and polls, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the Women's Team moved up one spot to No. 23 this week. And for the first time in three years, UConn is not your No. 1 squad. Baylor, who defeated the Orange a few weeks back, is No. 1.