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If you missed it, this mini-Twitter rant by USA Today's Dan Wolken happened Monday morning.
Syracuse guaranteed to be most overrated/overranked team going into tourney. Since Big East play started, 1 good win, 1 solid win.
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) March 4, 2013
Put aside beating Louisville on the road six weeks ago, what has 'Cuse accomplished? Beat SDSU on a ship? Beat ND and Cincy at home?
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) March 4, 2013
And now that I have thoroughly deconstructed Syracuse's overrated resume, I am going to wait for my Pulitzer.
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) March 4, 2013
Now, this post will choose not to 100-percent defend Syracuse, because it is not smart to do that right now, but instead will make a few points off these Tweets.
First, lets rundown resumes, from the month of February to the present, of some of the best teams in the nation starting with the 'Cuse.
No. 17 Syracuse (4-5): ROAD losses to No. 20 Pittsburgh, Connecticut, No. 15 Marquette; HOME losses to No. 5 Georgetown and No. 18 Louisville; ROAD WIN at Seton Hall; HOME wins against No. 24 Notre Dame, Providence and St. John's.
No. 4 Kansas (6-3): ROAD losses to TCU (1-12 in the Big 12), Oklahoma; ROAD wins against No. 13 Oklahoma State and Iowa State (which shouldn't be a win); HOME wins against No. 9 Kansas State, Texas, TCU and West Virgina; HOME loss to No. 13 Oklahoma State.
No. 7 Michigan (4-4): ROAD losses to No. 2 Indiana, No. 22 Wisconsin, No. 10 Michigan State and Penn State (1-15 in the Big Ten); HOME wins over No. 14 Ohio State, Penn State, Illinois and No. 10 Michigan State.
No. 10 Michigan State (4-3): ROAD losses to No. 14 Ohio State and No. 7 Michigan; ROAD wins at Purdue and Nebraska; HOME wins against Minnesota, Michigan, HOME loss to No. 2 Indiana.
(Note: the Spartans are currently on a three-game losing streak.)
No. 14 Ohio State (4-3): ROAD losses to No. 7 Michigan, No. 22 Wisconsin; ROAD wins at Nebraska and Northwestern (both are 4-12 in the Big Ten); HOME loss to No. 2 Indiana; HOME wins Northwestern, Minnesota and No. 10 Michigan State.
No. 18 Arizona (5-4): ROAD losses Colorado, USC and No. 23 UCLA; ROAD wins Washington State and Utah; HOME loss to Cal; HOME wins against Stanford, Washington and Washington State (all three are a combined 13-36 in Pac-12).
There's more, but lets stop there.
Sure, Syracuse's recent resume isn't as good as a lot of top 25 teams. No Orange fan will disagree with Wolken on that (at least they shouldn't).
However, the Orange do have nearly the same resumes than teams ranked ahead. Mainly because SU hasn't killed itself with a terrible losses, like some teams have, and other teams are losing too.
Also, except for one week in the past six, Syracuse has dropped in the rankings. The Orange have also fallen from being a projected No. 1-2 seed to, as of right now, a No. 5-6 seed -- right where they should be.
On Monday's TNIAAM podcast, SB Nation Bracketologist Chris Dobbertean said worst-case scenario -- loss to DePaul, Georgetown and one-game exit from the Big East Tournament - Syracuse could drop to a No. 8-9 seed; which is also fair.
Right now, SU is a middle-of-the-road team and because of the current state of college basketball that's good enough for a No. 17-ranking and a five or six seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Sorry Mr. Wolken, Syracuse isn't overrated or underrated. This is just how college basketball is.