March 28--The first-ever No. 10 seed will play in the Final Four in Houston, but nobody will call this team a Cinderella.
Syracuse is hardly an up-and-comer with an unknown coach, but the Orange's journey is just as unlikely as any underdog story.
They started the season unranked. They started ACC play at 0-4. Coach Jim Boeheim was suspended nine games. They finished the conference season 9-9 and were placed ninth in the ACC.
They had lost five of their last six games before the NCAA tournament. College basketball pundits were outraged the Orange even got into the tournament. Their RPI was 72 on Selection Sunday.
It's hard to find a team that made more out of their line on the bracket.
"They just kept playing," Boeheim said after coming back from a 16-point deficit against top-seeded Virginia in the Elite Eight. "I don't think anybody has ever gone to the Final Four that started 0-4 in the league, any league. I just think they deserve a lot of credit."
The Orange earned the right to play North Carolina, the only No. 1 seed remaining in the tournament.
No. 2 seeds Oklahoma and Villanova will face off in Houston on the other side of the bracket.
The Syracuse-North Carolina matchup has already sparked conversations about the lack of academic integrity in college sports.
The Orange is on NCAA probation after instituting a self-imposed one-year postseason ban last year for many rules violations, including academic ones.
North Carolina's case of academic fraud is expected to go before the Committee on Infractions later this year.
Coach Roy Williams bristled after mention of the topic following North Carolina's victory against Notre Dame in the Elite Eight.
"We had a problem," he said. "We're embarrassed. We're mad. We're ticked off about what happened. But we know that men's basketball had nothing to do with it and we're very proud of that. But as I said the other day, my integrity and credibility has never been questioned. ...
The bottom line is I was able to go to practice every day. And my team made it a heck of a lot of fun. I'd like that to be the story instead of the other junk. The other junk's gotten about a million times more publicity than I care to think about."
Those questions will arise again in Houston, but so will discussions about how dominant the Tar Heels look.
North Carolina, which is making its first Final Four since winning the tournament in 2009, has beaten tournament opponents this season by an average of 16 points.
"We feel like we can't be beat," guard Marcus Paige said. "We feel that when we're playing our best we're happy with any matchup we get."
