Once again, Syracuse, a 10-seed, has beaten the odds and somehow found their way to the Final Four. North Carolina, the only 1-seed remaining, has won each of their NCAA Tournament games by at least 14 points, a significant margin. Tonight, they will square off in Houston. Not only is it an interesting match up, but it has historical significance written all over it.
For the first time ever, a 10-seed has made it to the Final Four. Before Syracuse, only 3 double-digit seeds ever reached the Final Four (all 3 were 11 seeds). Also, no 10+ seed has ever made it to the National Championship Game. With history stacked against Syracuse, they will need some good fortune coupled with some big shots late in the game.
North Carolina is 1-2 all-time against Syracuse in the national tournament, winning a regional final versus Syracuse in 1957 and losing one to them in 1987. Surprisingly, they have not played each other in this tournament in over 25 years. Still, Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim has won in big games against North Carolina and knows what it will take to beat them.
In Syracuse’s most recent game against North Carolina, they lost 75-70 in North Carolina. While this may make you think North Carolina has the upper hand against Syracuse, there are 2 key details to remember; first, NCAA games are played on a neutral court and, if anything, fans are rooting for the upset to happen. Second, Syracuse is a much better team now than they were going into the tournament. That loss started a 3-game losing streak to end their regular season. North Carolina, rather, was at the top of their game when they played Syracuse a month ago. Now, Syracuse has tons of momentum and have a go-to 2-1-2 press if they are losing late.
If Syracuse’s 2-3 zone holds up, and they can manage to contain guard Marcus Paige, they might just be able to hang in there for the full 40 minutes against North Carolina. That’s a lot of ifs, though.
~NCAA Writer, Daniel Croll~
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