Not to get carried away but there’s growing urgency.
Obviously, there’s no reality where we WANT the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team to lose to the Buffalo Bulls on Tuesday. However, the question is whether or not the Orange can take sustain another loss as they’re starting to stack up here in non-conference play.
Syracuse already has three defeats on the year, including the most recent game against Old Dominion. A second straight home loss — even to a top-15 Buffalo team — would be devastating in many ways. It’s not only our last chance at a marquee non-conference win (though we do already have a road victory over Ohio State), but it largely kills off our excuse for the poor showing at Madison Square Garden last month.
For as much as those two losses to UConn and Oregon looked terrible, they were without Frank Howard. The win streak and improved play afterward seemed to indicate his presence had helped us right the ship and you could virtually eliminate those defeats when evaluating this team in March. Losing to ODU on Saturday calls that thinking into question now. Picking up another ‘L’ against Buffalo would completely eliminate it (yes, despite the Bulls’ ranking right now).
So yes, this game is critical. Is it a ‘must-win?’ No, the ACC schedule can fix that. But we can breathe at least a little easier going into league play if we can grab a win over UB and create a little more margin for error.
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Syracuse basketball can’t afford another non-conference loss (Syracuse.com)
“Every game is important,’’ Syracuse forward Oshae Brissett said, “but it holds high value now.’’ That might be an understatement. Prior to this season, Syracuse had suffered three non-conference losses just six times in the last 27 years. In five of those years, Syracuse didn’t go to the NCAA tournament.
