Wednesday Results Help Syracuse's NCAA Tournament Chances

If Syracuse is going to make a run at an NCAA Tournament bid, it will need some help. The Orange got some Wednesday night from the North Carolina State Wolfpack.

NC State pulled off a monumental upset by winning at #15 Virginia 68-61. Why is this important to Syracuse? It moves them closer to becoming a quadrant one win.

NC State entered Wednesday night's game ranked 81st in the NET ranking. Syracuse beat NC State twice, including 77-68 on the road on February 9th. Syracuse's biggest weakness in its NCAA Tournament resume is a lack of quadrant one wins. More specifically, they had none.

A quadrant one win is defined as beating a top 30 NET team at home, top 50 NET team on a neutral court or a top 75 NET team on the road. Virginia was ninth in the NET ranking going into the game, and that win will cause NC State to move up. NC State only moved up two spots, however, to 79th in NET. That means they are still not a quad one win but have moved closer.

In addition to NC State's win, bubble teams Xavier, Indiana and Seton Hall all lost. Xavier lost to 12-11 Providence, Indiana was blown out by Rutgers and Seton Hall fell to a Butler team with a losing record. Those results all help Syracuse.

On the negative side, North Carolina fell at home to Marquette, which entered the game two games under .500. That likely means North Carolina will not be a quadrant one opportunity for the Orange on Monday.

That alone is not enough for Syracuse. It certainly does help, however. Syracuse next has to take care of their own business and win at Georgia Tech, who vaulted into the top 40 in NET ranking after upsetting Virginia Tech on Tuesday. That means a win over the Yellow Jackets would give the Orange a second quadrant one win if NC State moves up a few more spots. Suddenly Syracuse's resume would look a whole lot better if that happens.