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The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team has done all it can to help its resume at this point. Losing to the Duke Blue Devils on Thursday didn’t hurt, but it probably didn’t help either. They’re 20-13... the same record they had last year at the end of the regular season, though with a weaker and more shallow bubble below them (as you’ll recall, last year’s team wasn’t chosen to make the field by many heading into Selection Sunday).
So the bracketology situation from here on out is unlikely to improve much, but it’s also unlikely to dip a ton either. Syracuse is in the field. Now we’re just waiting to find out where.
Where do the experts see us landing? Here’s today’s rundown of NCAA Tournament projections, with more coming both on Saturday and Sunday before we hear the ultimate selection:
8-seed
Fox Sports: South Region, vs. Iowa Hawkeyes
Don’t want to face Kentucky in the second round, but thanks to Fox for having more faith in Syracuse than anyone else does right now.
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9-seed
The Athletic: South Region, vs. UCF Knights
CBS Sports: South Region, vs. Utah State Aggies
ESPN: South Region, vs. Iowa
Sports Illustrated: West Region, vs. Washington Huskies
TeamRankings.com: West Region, vs. Wofford Terriers
USA Today: West Region, vs. Iowa Hawkeyes
Bracket Matrix*: West Region, vs. VCU Rams (Bracket Matrix is an average of all bracket predictions)
With two ACC teams definitely taking 1-seeds in the East and probably Midwest, the Orange end up clustered in two regions as a 9-seed (to avoid Virginia and UNC/Duke in the second round). None of those are necessarily great matchups, but Wofford, UCF and Seton Hall are much preferred to Iowa or Washington — though TBD on VCU. And I’d rather be out West for the chance SU gets to Anaheim for the Sweet 16 despite the Zags (the 1-seed out there) being a bad matchup. But that’s my own geographical bias coming in, obviously.
10-seed
SB Nation: West Region, vs. VCU
Stadium: East Region, vs. Cincinnati Bearcats
Washington Post: South Region, vs. Villanova Wildcats
Hell no to ‘Nova. Don’t love VCU or Cincinnati either, though big fan of that West Region that sends us to a potential second round matchup with Tennessee.
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These seeds won’t change much in the coming couple days, but the opponents may. Any matchups you’re particularly fond of (or not)? Weigh in below.