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WATCH: Syracuse Reacts to NCAA Tournament Selection

The Orange players were excited about going dancing.
Mike McAllister|
WATCH: Syracuse Reacts to NCAA Tournament Selection
WATCH: Syracuse Reacts to NCAA Tournament Selection

Syracuse basketball was selected as the 11 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament. They will face San Diego State on Friday, March 19th. When the bracket started to get announced, the first two regions revealed included several bubble teams. That revelation made Orange fans nervous. When the Midwest bracket was displayed, Syracuse was the 11 seed. Here is how the Orange players reacted. 

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If Syracuse is able to beat the Aztecs, they would take on the winner of West Virginia and Moorehead State. Three former Syracuse opponents are also in the Midwest in Georgia Tech (8), Clemson (7) and Rutgers (10). The Tigers and Scarlet Knights play each other in the first round. The one seed in Syracuse's bracket is Illinois while the two seed is Houston

Syracuse enters the big dance with a record of 16-9 after making some noise in the ACC Tournament. The Orange blew out NC State by 21 in the second round matchup (its first due to a bye) before losing a heartbreaker 72-69 to Virginia on a buzzer beating three pointer.

During the season, Syracuse was significantly impacted by covid-19. The program had to go on pause for two weeks prior to the season opener. That led to one practice before facing Bryant, where Syracuse was able to win by one point despite trailing for most of the game. After that, Buddy Boeheim was forced to quarantine and he missed three games including the close loss at Rutgers.

Syracuse had to go on another two week pause mid-season after Buffalo had a positive test immediately after facing the Orange. Two games against Louisville were cancelled beyond that, each due to a positive test within the Louisville program on the day of the game.

It was also revealed that Buddy Boeheim and Joe Girard both had covid, and it took them quite a while to get past related symptoms. Buddy seemed to have shaken those approximately 11 games ago, as he shot over 46% from three point range during the final 11 leading up to the NCAA Tournament. That raised his three point shooting percentage from 27% to 37%.

Despite all of that, Syracuse has earned a berth in college basketball's postseason. 

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Mike McAllister
MIKE MCALLISTER

Title: Publisher All Syracuse Education: Roberts Wesleyan College Location: Syracuse, New York Expertise: Syracuse basketball, football and recruiting.  EXPERIENCE Mike McAllister has been covering Syracuse basketball, football and recruiting for more than a decade. Mike's career started with his own free blog as a way to vent following sporting events. Shortly thereafter, a network of basketball sites called Coast 2 Coast Hoops asked him to run their Syracuse site. That site was called Nation of Orange, and Mike quickly established it as a go-to for Syracuse fans.  After running Nation of Orange for several months, a position with the Syracuse site on the Scout network became available. After one year as the recruiting expert with Cuse Nation, he was named the publisher. Mike oversaw the transition from Scout to 247Sports, and ran the site on that network for years.  Presented with the opportunity to join one of the biggest names in the sports journalism industry, Sports Illustrated, Mike jumped at the chance. All Syracuse was started from scratch by Mike and the Fan Nation team. It has now become a staple for Orange fans of various sports.  Mike has broken news on recruiting, Syracuse basketball and football team information and has established himself as the top recruiting inside in the market. He has appeared on local radio shows, television broadcasts, national radio shows and much more. Mr. McAllister has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting and Information Management from Roberts Wesleyan College. 

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