NCAA Tournament: Syracuse is A 3-Seed, Will Open In Cleveland Against Indiana State

Here we go.

The Syracuse Orange will play in the 2011 NCAA Tournament as a 3-seed in the East region. The Orange open in Cleveland against Indiana State on Friday. If they win, they get the winner of Xavier & Marquette.

Initial Thoughts:

East Region means Newark regional. That's a huge win.

Cleveland Opening Round means No D.C. Which isn't that great. Furthermore, we open against a team from Indiana and if we win we'll play a team from Ohio or a team from Wisconsin. Great (read: not great).

Seriously, sending us to Cleveland with the potential to play lower-seed Xavier? WTF?

Seth Davis immediately called Indiana State over Syracuse. Seth, go f*** yourself.

As of this moment, you hate Larry Bird. At least until Saturday.

Is it me or are we in for a tough region? Xavier/Marquette in 2nd round. North Carolina or Isiah Thomas & Washington looming in Sweet Sixteen. Ohio State & Kentucky way ahead in the Elite 8. Gonna be a slugfest.

The NCAA committe's solution for so many Big East teams seems to be to let them knock each other out in the 2nd round. I know its hard to avoid those match-ups once in a while, but they seem to have gone out of their way to make those things possible. Seems...slightly shady.