Syracuse Basketball: Orange Host Carleton In Exhibition Opener

The Syracuse Orange men's basketball season tips-off Sunday afternoon (1 p.m. on Time Warner Cable Sports), as the No. 23/24-ranked Orange host our Great White Northern neighbors, the Carleton University Ravens, in its exhibition opener.

Over the course of next week, this site is going to dive head first into the Orange's hoops season, which is probably what you all would like after Saturday when the football team dropped to 3-6 overall with a 24-17 loss to the N.C. State Wolfpack.

But before we get all jacked up about the upcoming season, this showdown will serve as a solid early-season primer for the 2014-15 season because Carleton is arguably the best Canadian college hoops squad the country has to offer.

As we all remember, the Ravens gave Syracuse a run for its money during last season's summer Canadian exhibition trip and, just this summer, they beat the Memphis Tigers twice.

Heck, even Jim Boeheim believes the Orange will enter the game as the underdog.

The reason for worry come from Carleton ability to score points--thanks to Philip Schrubb, who combined to score 65 points in the Ravens two wins over the Tigers this summer, and his brother, Thomas, who can light it up as well--and Syracuse's unknowns heading into the season like: A) How is SU going to replace its star freshman point guard and possibly its No. 1 glue guy in program history; B) Is Rakeem Christmas going to finally step into his "this is the player he should be" role?; and C) Will it all actually matter?

Enough with that, it's time to get excited about some college basketball. I am ready to see what this year's squad looks like and as a fan base we can't ask for a better exhibition test than Carleton.

Here. We. Go!