NIT bracket 2017: Syracuse earns No. 1 overall seed, hosting UNC-Greensboro on Tuesday

The non-story that won’t die gets new life this coming Tuesday, March 14.

When the top-seeded Syracuse Orange begin their National Invitational Tournament trip, they’ll be facing the 8-seed UNC-Greensboro Spartans. The teams will be playing at the Carrier Dome. Should Syracuse beat the Spartans, they’ll face the winner of Ole Miss and Monmouth in the No. 4 vs. No. 5 game.

As you know, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim grabbed the ire of the city of Greensboro on Wednesday, and then a minor league baseball team thought they’d get cute. Syracuse’s own minor league team, the Chiefs, got cute as well. We thought it was done. Now we get all the memes and jokes we can tolerate (or not) between today and the Tuesday tip-off.

You’ll never convince me that the NIT selection officials didn’t create this troll-tastic matchup on purpose given all of the above. The potential Monmouth matchup also shouldn’t surprise given the Hawks’ proximity. SU has beaten Monmouth both times they’ve played all-time, including this year, a 71-50 Orange win.

Syracuse has faced UNC-Greensboro three times in men’s basketball (most recently a 2002). SU is 3-0 against the Spartans. They’ve never faced Ole Miss either.

As you’ll notice above, it’s far from an easy bracket for Syracuse, despite being a top seed. Familiar face Georgia Tech is at the other end, along with talented-but-flawed Indiana, Georgia and a likely underseeded Belmont.

If the Orange can win the first three games, they’ll head to Madison Square Garden.

Hopefully we get far enough for some Cal jokes. Or at least far enough to bury the Greensboro jokes for awhile -- since those are far less entertaining.