Syracuse (18-14, 10-8 Atlantic Coast) missed out on the NCAA Tournament for the first time when eligible in nine seasons and the ninth time overall in Jim Boeheim’s 41 years as the Orange’s head coach. He said SU will prep to play in the National Invitation Tournament, which announces its bracket at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Boeheim addressed the media after Syracuse missed the cut and here are three things he said.

Boeheim knows why his team wasn’t included in the 68-team field

Syracuse opened the season with an 8-6 record, a start that Boeheim described as “terrible” on Sunday evening and one that he said put his team in a “tremendous hole.” From that point on, the Orange went 10-8, including wins over Duke (RPI rank of 6), Florida State (RPI rank of 13) and Virginia (RPI rank of 18).

But SU also went 2-11 away from the Carrier Dome, which ultimately helped sink Boeheim’s team. While he said he doesn’t “know what they do exactly,” Boeheim detailed why he thought Syracuse missed.

“I think it comes down to we won two road games and obviously lost three games to teams outside the Top 100 (in RPI),” Boeheim said. “I think that overbalanced the fact that we beat three teams in the top 15 and six teams in the Top 50. We finished at 10-8 in a great conference but it is what it is.”

Scheduling isn’t the reason Syracuse missed out

The Orange’s nonconference strength of schedule ranked 215th in the country entering Sunday. That number is lower than three of the last four teams that made the field: Providence (185), Wake Forest (15), Southern California (140) and Kansas State (237).

While playing tougher teams may have bolstered SU’s resume, Syracuse went 8-5 in nonconference games. Losses to Connecticut, Georgetown and St. John’s dragged the Orange down due to the opponents’ weak seasons.

“It’s not our schedule,” Boeheim said. “It’s all the games we didn’t win. It’s the games we lost. It’s not that we didn’t play people.”

Without John Gillon and Andrew White, SU wouldn’t make NIT

Syracuse’s early-season struggles resulted in a pile of bad losses that hurt the Orange on Selection Sunday. Part of that happened because SU brought in fifth-year graduate transfers Andrew White and John Gillon and it took time for them to learn Boeheim’s schemes.

But Boeheim said without those two players, the Orange wouldn’t have even been good enough to qualify for the NIT. White led Syracuse with 18 points per game and was named to the All-ACC third team. Boeheim said Gillon’s “been a good point guard” ranking fourth in the conference with 5.34 assists per game and averaging 10.9 points per game.

White and Gillon were the first two grad transfers that Boeheim has taken since a recent rule change allowed them to switch schools without having to sit out a year. Despite Syracuse’s early struggles, Boeheim said he will continue entertaining the option if needed.

“When you lose guys late, like we lost Malachi (Richardson) late (to the NBA), there is no freshman you’re going to get,” Boeheim said. “… I think those two guys helped us get to 18 wins. It’s a different world today when you lose guys late, you see if you need somebody to fill a hole, I think you’re going to try to do that in those situations with those circumstances.”

Published on March 12, 2017 at 7:48 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds