As life-long Orange(men) fans, we can quite plainly say this 2010 team is the best we’ve ever seen Syracuse put on the floor. The team that won it all in 2003 had, obviously, amazing talent and a future NBA all-everything in Melo, but this team is just that: a team. It doesn’t feel like we have that insane liability on the court…the guy who could single-handedly win or lose games with his reckless play. 2010 has a team full of guys who pick each other up, and as a group can overcome most all of Scoop Jardine’s ridiculous decisions down the stretch. We love Scoop, honest, but do sometimes wonder, as he’s fouling guys shooting three pointers down the stretch (multiple times), what (or if) he is thinking.

That said it is high time we pay tribute to the 1996 Syracuse squad that advanced past Kansas in front of a hostile Denver, CO crowd to make the Final Four. High time we pay tribute to Al McGuire and his bit of “french pastry”.

It would really be a shame if this team who opened the season with an exhibition loss to Division II Le Moyne and has since gone 6-0 against Top 10 teams doesn’t play into early April and end up with some nylon neckwear.