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NCAA Tournament: Storylines For Every Sweet 16 Team

By Nathan Giese

Mar 20, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners guard Buddy Hield (24) celebrates defeating the Virginia Commonwealth Rams 85-81 during the second round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 20, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners guard Buddy Hield (24) celebrates defeating the Virginia Commonwealth Rams 85-81 during the second round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 20, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; Syracuse Orange guard Malachi Richardson (23) interacts with forward Michael Gbinije (0) during the second half of the second round against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders in the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 20, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; Syracuse Orange guard Malachi Richardson (23) interacts with forward Michael Gbinije (0) during the second half of the second round against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders in the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /

Syracuse Orange: Is It Actually Luck?

Syracuse had mild preseason projections. They lost their core and replaced it with talented but inexperienced freshman.

But the Orange came out of the gates strong, beating both Connecticut and Texas A&M in the Battle 4 Atlantis. Everybody sang their praises because Syracuse made everybody rethink those preseason expectations.

Then they lost to Wisconsin. Then Georgetown. Then St. John’s. Then their first four ACC games. Then they won eight of their next nine games. Then lost four of their last five before the NCAA tournament.

Somehow through all of this, Syracuse is in the Sweet 16. They dominated Dayton and got Middle Tennessee–not Michigan State–in the second round and dominated them, too.

Nobody really knows if this team is actually good, or if they’re just a totally inconsistent mess that plays well for stretches and awful at others. That’s generally what you’ll get when you mix seniors (Trevor Cooney and Michael Gbinije) with freshmen (Malachi Richardson and Tyler Lydon) and expecting it to work fluidly.

If they’re actually good and not just a hot mess, now would be the time to show it.

Are the Orange actually a formidable team? Or did they get incredibly lucky with avoiding Michigan State in the second round?

Next: Duck For Dinner?