Under Doug Marrone, Syracuse became a nightmare for West Virginia

If there’s one consistent non-conference football team Syracuse Orange fans wish we still played against, it’s the West Virginia Mountaineers.

Unlike the parade of apathy that our series with Boston College has sort of become, there’s actual venom around the WVU series. Syracuse leads the all-time series by a slim 33-27 margin. They dislike us. We dislike them. One of their fans almost knocked me on my ass at the 2012 Pinstripe Bowl. You get it...

So it’s satisfying to see the Orange earn two of the top 10 spots on this list from SB Nation’s Smoking Musket, ranking the 10 worst losses of the Dana Holgorsen era. Granted, those SU teams had more NFL talent on them than is probably accounted for there. But nonetheless, those Mountaineers teams were perceived to be better all around. That dominant 2011 win, personally, remains one of the most satisfying as an SU fan.

The rest of your Syracuse-related links below:

West Virginia’s Ten Worst Losses Under Dana Holgorsen (The Smoking Musket)

3. Syracuse 49, WVU 23 (2011): This game is burned in my mind with one image: former defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel throwing his hands up in the air at Dana Holgorsen as Syracuse ran their 1,584,267th wheel route of the game and his defense acted as if this was the first time they had ever seen the play.

2018 NBA Draft: In or out? Evaluating the draft prospects of every underclassman who has declared (The Athletic)

Battle’s stock requires an awful lot of context. His efficiency numbers may not look all that impressive, but he was basically the only person on Syracuse’s roster who could create a reasonable shot for himself. That led to him taking a lot of contested shots, which drove his field-goal percentage down to a level that is not indicative of his actual skill. Battle should be trusted to hit shots at a solid clip. The key to whether or not you buy into Battle as a first-rounder comes with his defense and passing.

What each ACC team’s home court advantage can tell you about the basketball schedule (Durham Herald-Sun)

Syracuse compensates for any road woes with a big annual boost from having BC and Pitt as its enduring designated rivals. Jim Boeheim’s clubs enjoyed 10 home games already, and two more to come, against those schools, which combined for a single top-five ACC finish over the past half-decade. The Eagles haven’t ended a season higher than 13th in the post-expansion era; since Kevin Stallings took over at Pittsburgh the Panthers were 14th and 15th in the standings.

Indianapolis Colts Way Too Early 2018 53-Man Roster Projection (Stampede Blue)

Linebacker: 6: The Colts decide to go away from the Antonio Morrison experiment by allowing the young, recently acquired talent through the draft to get the snaps and work towards building a foundation for the future. Goode will be expected to be the experience of the unit in the middle, Walker will earn himself the SAM role and Leonard takes the WILL while George, Adams and Franklin give some exciting depth at each position going forward.

Carmelo and the year where it all changed (Mile High Sports)

One has to wonder what the perception of Melo the player would be or would have been if he stayed in Denver and accepted the contract extension the Nuggets were trying to get him to sign in the summer of 2010. In order to see why things happened the way they did, you must examine inextricably linked events that collided from 2009 to 2010 that forever altered Melo’s course in his basketball life.

Field Set for 2018 ACC Softball Championship (TheACC)

A 2019 spring football plan: Clemson vs. Georgia, South Carolina vs. FSU (The Post and Courier)

Q&A with NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Committee chair John Hardt (Baltimore Sun)

Syracuse parks chief resigns after ‘foolish’ $5,400 theft: ‘I fell on hard times’ (Syracuse.com)