It’s Tournament time once again! Teams and fans of 68 teams from across the country are hopeful that this is their year. There are 6 games needed to win the National Championship, and game one for the Orange is against Indiana State.
First off, here are a couple quick notes about the Indiana State Sycamores. They are the #14 seed in the East Region after winning the Missouri Valley Conference. Also, and arguably the most notable, Basketball Hall of Fame member Larry Bird led Indiana State to the 1979 National Championship game (played against Magic Johnson and Michigan State). Furthermore, this is their first tournament appearance since 2001. Lastly, they have played 4 games against 3 opponents that Syracuse has played this season (2 wins against Northern Iowa, a win against DePaul and a loss to Notre Dame).
This conference does have some history of big upsets; Northern Iowa upset #1 Kansas last year to reach the Sweet 16 and in 2002 Southern Illinois reached the Sweet 16 as a #11 seed. That’s not to say that a lower seed will beat Syracuse in the first round, but just ask the 2005 Vermont Catamounts what that feels like.
After looking closer at the Sycamores, a few things jump off the page. They have 4 players who are 6’7” or taller, but they are only the 232nd rated rebounding team in the nation (Syracuse is 26th best). Carl Richard is a 6’5” junior and is their best rebounder with 6.6 rebounds per game; Myles Walker is a 6’8” junior who contributes 5.3 rpg, but after them the size is somewhat unused. Rick Jackson and the SU bigs should have a field day cleaning up the offensive glass.
So if rebounding isn’t their thing, what is? The answer is not much, Indiana State was a .500 ballclub until they got hot at the end of the season and won 8 of their last 9 games. One bench player does stand out, however. Jordan Printy is a junior guard on the team, but he has the chance to be a highly effective role player. As a team the Sycamores only shoot 36% from beyond the arc, but Printy averages 48% from 3 on the season. He has made 50 of 104 shots from deep this year, so if Indiana State is going to pull the upset, expect it to come from Printy breaking the SU 2-3 zone with the 3-point shot.
Might history be on Syracuse’s side? In 2003 Syracuse was the #3 seed in the East Region and went on to win the National Championship. I just don’t see the magic of Carmelo Anthony on this team, but there is no clear favorite in the field this year, so the national champion is anybody’s guess. But the first step is to beat Indiana State. Syracuse vastly overpowers them in size, ability and tournament experience, and the Orange will win 80-50. The game is in Cleveland on Friday March 18th at 10pm and can be seen on truTV (channel 76 on Time Warner Cable). Enjoy the Madness!
