Time to pick the best Syracuse men’s basketball team since 1975

You’ve been voting the last three days in the first of our weekly bracket contests as this week we determine the best Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team since 1975.

Here’s how we initially seeded the squads.

1. 2003 (30-5)

2. 2010 (30-5)

3. 1987 (31-7)

4. 2012 (34-3)

5. 1996 (29-9)

6. 2013 (30-10)

7. 1989 (30-8)

8. 1975 (27-9)

9. 2000 (26-6)

10. 2004 (23-8)

11. 1980 (26-4)

12. 1979 (26-4)

13. 1984 (23-9)

14. 2014 (28-6)

15. 2009 (28-10)

16. 2011 (27-8)

Let’s meet the teams facing off for the title and how they got here:

In 2003, Syracuse was the top seed and they tore through the Hanson Region easily — unlike the actual path taken by the Orange in that year’s NCAA Tournament. The 4th-seeded 2012 team put up a respectable battle in the semi-final but the Andreas Region champions were no match for Melo, Hak and GMac in the second half. The 2003 team advanced by a 73%-27% margin.

The other semi-final seemed to present an evenly matched pair of teams. We had the #2 seed 2010 Syracuse team who came out of the Bing Region against the 3rd seed 1987 squad who won the Cohen Region. This one wasn’t as close as Vegas as predicted. Wes Johnson and Arinze Onuaku were overwhelmed by Rony Seikaly and Derrick Coleman 63%-37% as 1987 gets a second chance to bring home a championship.

Now it’s all up to you. Vote below by 8:00 p.m. ET and make your selection.

We’ll have the final tally on Friday and a new, unrelated bracket on Monday.