Road struggles might sabotage Syracuse's credentials for NCAA Tournament bid

Syracuse squandered chance to solidify its case for an at-large bid with loss to Louisville on Sunday

Two weeks from Sunday is shaping up to be a stressful one for Jim Boeheim and his Syracuse team after the Orange suffered another loss on the road to No. 7 Louisville on Sunday afternoon.

 When the selection committee hands down its 68-team bracket, Boeheim’s squad is not a lock to be included after squandering a chance to solidify its case to the committee against the Cardinals.

FINAL: Louisville 88, Syracuse 68.

The reasoning for why Syracuse should be a tournament team can easily be made, but only if you’re using selective criteria. With its backs against the wall and a sub-.500 conference record in January, the Orange answered the bell in reeling off five straight wins during a two-week stretch that included victories over Florida State and Virginia -- two ranked ACC opponents that significantly bolstered the Cuse’s resume. 

But its biggest wins have come at home, with an important one over Duke coming at the buzzer earlier this week.

The bottom line is this: If the committee only took into account games played at the Carrier Dome, there would be no debate about Syracuse’s chances to make the field. The Orange have five wins over top-50 teams on their home floor.

And that’s part of the problem.

The Orange’s resume is lacking away from home. The 20-point loss at Louisville is the third straight road defeat and locks up an ugly 2-8 road mark in the regular season with one game at home left to be played.

Saturday, Georgia Tech comes to town to face a Syracuse team desperate to land one final win before the ACC tournament. A loss would be devastating to its hopes of making the NCAAs, and a win might be enough to sneak the Cuse in. No matter how you slice it from where we stand on Feb. 26, Boeheim’s team is backed into a corner with only two weeks until Selection Sunday. It’s proved once this season it can respond well under pressure, as evidenced by its hot streak in January. But this upcoming challenge against Georgia Tech and into the ACC tournament has a lot more at stake than it did in the middle of conference play.

Betting against a Hall of Fame coach like Boeheim isn’t something I’d recommend, but the Orange are flirting with disaster.