Karma is a bitch.
I left work a little early yesterday, because I saw that both Maryland and Syracuse were playing at 2:00, on ESPN networks, and I was finished with my meeting in time to catch most of the second half. Not only did I get home to find that the Maryland game was only on pay-per-view, but both of them lost. Syracuse lost by six in a game where they shot 16-28 from the free-throw line (at one point, they were 9-20), while Maryland played a horrible game and lost to Miami. They did have a shot to tie, but really, there's no excuse for falling behind a 12-19 team by fifteen points in a single-elimination tournament.
Of course, Maryland's loss is at least part of a pattern. Not just a pattern of losing to Miami this season, but the larger ACC pattern of lower-seeded teams winning: Florida State edged Clemson in the 8-9 game, NC State beat Duke in overtime, and Wake Forest knocked off Georgis Tech in a wild double-overtime game that took place after I went to bed.
This is clearly part of a ploy by the ACC to try to get all 12 teams into the NCAA tournament this year.
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Syracuse always has an issue with free throws, and I'm unsure as to why. It could be that they don't practice them as much as they should. Another is that the quality of players that Syracuse recruits. They rarely grab high profile, well-rounded high school all-Americans, and instead grab the second and third tier prospects (outside of Carmelo, whom Boeheim said weighed 180lbs when they signed him). A lot of these guys might be able to play ball, but they get passed over by bigger programs because of holes in their game (e.g., free throw shooting). That Boeheim can take a bunch of these guys and turn them into perennial winners is a testament to his coaching ability.
At least that's what I'm telling myself. There's been more than one game this year where Syracuse has lost by 4-8 points and shot less than 60% from the line. And that makes for a frustrating team to watch.
I sympathize... Northwestern ALMOST pulled the upset over Michigan State yesterday, but a freshman threw the ball away in the final seconds... Well, it will give them all time to study, as finals are next week.
Well, kind of a big surprise that the 'Cuse was left out of the tournament. I watched Jay Bilas make a big deal about Xavier getting in at the expense (in part) of Syracuse, but I was thinking how on earth is Purdue a 9-seed while Syracuse is heading to the NIT?