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The Syracuse Orange are not going to be a 1-seed in the 2014 NCAA Tournament. Know it and move on.
They're almost certainly not going to be a 2-seed either. That seems fairly clear (just not to USA Today).
As for whether or not the 27-5 squad will be a 3-seed or 4-seed, that seems to be the question. The Orange are starting to show up more and more as a 4-seed, like they do here. But if you ask me, that's more about people only thinking of what Syracuse has done in the past six weeks and not taking into consideration the entire season.
Which you have to.
Syracuse sill has wins over two top-10 RPI teams (Villanova, Duke), plus wins over UNC (No. 20), Pitt (No. 40), NC State (No. 62) and St. John's (No. 63). The resume is solid, even if the momentum isn't.
So if you're asking me right now, I'm saying Syracuse ends up as a 3-seed. And Patrick Stevens seems to agree...
Can Syracuse be a No. 3 seed? This appears to be the most likely scenario at this stage. Syracuse’s profile has taken a hit over the last month, but its entire set of accomplishments have not been erased. This is still a good road/neutral team (11-3) that’s done good work against the top 50 (7-2) and top 100 (15-3) in the RPI. But those two ugly losses to Boston College and Georgia Tech weigh heavily, too.
Stevens says a 4-seed is worst-case scenario and, under the circumstances, I suppose it's certainly possible. But as of right now, I still think the Orange end up a 3-seed playing their first game in Buffalo. After that, all bets are off.
But that could all change by this time tomorrow...
