NCAA Tournament: Predicting Syracuse's First-Round Opponent

Nobody knows nothing, this is true. But I think it's fair to say we're pretty sure about a couple things.

The Syracuse Orange will enter the NCAA Tournament as the No. 2 overall seed behind the Kentucky Wildcats.

The Syracuse Orange will be a No. 1 seed.

The Syracuse Orange will be in the East Region.

I feel pretty good saying those things and not having to worry about much else. The one big variable in that equation at the moment is...who will Syracuse play in the first round?

Last time we were a No. 1 seed, we got the hated Vermont Catamounts and extracted our pound of flesh from them. Who will taste our vengeance in 2012? We look to the Bracketologists to guide our way...

SB Nation's brackets say the Orange will get UNC in the first round. Wait, WHAT? Oh, misread that. It's the UNC-Asheville Bulldogs. The Bulldogs are 24-9 and won the Big South Conference this year. We actually have a few common opponents with them. NC State beat them by 9 and UConn beat them by 10. Asheville made the tournament last year as well and was dispatched by Pitt in the first round.

Lunardi is in agreement and also sees SU taking on the Bulldogs of Asheville in the first round.

CBSSports.com's Jerry Palm also sees SU and UNC-Asheville tangling in the first round.

Over at SI.com, Glockner has the Orange awaiting the winner of a play-in game between Mississippi Valley State and Western Kentucky. The MVST Delta Devils finished the season 24-12 and won the SWAC. The Hilltoppers finished the season 19-18 and won the Sun Belt in a bit of a surprise. I'll be rooting for them if only so both our mascots could fulfill their destiny and stand next to one another.

Rushthecourt.net has us playing something called the Norfolk St. Spartans in the first round. They won the MEAC.

We'll find out soon enough who our first opponent will be on Thursday. Then it'll be all about making sure they're not our last...

In the meantime, might I encourage you to sign up for the SB Nation "Wisdom of the Crowds" bracket picks page brackets hosted on Yahoo! I know you've got a lot of brackets ready to go already, but, what's one more? I'll be partaking as well so you can measure yourself against me and make fun of me when my Lamar Final Four selection doesn't pan out.

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