We’re now in that time of year when Syracuse basketball has started play, meaning all SU fans who hid from the national college scene during football season can crawl out from their caves of shame and support a team the rest of America acknowledges as good.

So with this juxtaposition in mind and America still fresh in a post-election democratic mindset, it’s a perfect time to analyze both sides – the pros and cons – of being a Syracuse Orange fan.

Pro: Basketball

The reason for this column. Syracuse used to be a football school, but men’s basketball has taken over as the crown jewel of SU Athletics. A national title and a string of blue-chip recruits will do that for a program, and by now people associate Syracuse with Carmelo Anthony as much as with Donovan McNabb – and Anthony only stayed here one year.

No other school can offer basketball crowds of 30,000-plus at will, and few schools can match SU’s iconic Jim Boeheim and consistent overall performance the last 30 years. Saying you’re a Syracuse fan means you’re boys with Jimmy B, you get down with the 2-3 zone and you can say ‘G-Mac’ and get away with it.

‘Cuse means basketball and nowadays that means respect.

Con: Football

On the other hand, we have the Fellows of the FieldTurf. I can’t imagine what it must have been like here in 1987, when in addition to a Final Four basketball team, SU enjoyed an undefeated football team that made it to the Sugar Bowl.

But these days, Syracuse football means empty crowds, national ridicule and a whole lot of reliance on the distant past to help forget about the dismal present.

Remember that kid you know who made the clich, ‘Hey, only 30 days until basketball season’ joke a month ago? Well there’s a reason the joke’s played out – it’s true.

Pro: Lacrosse

Syracuse is one of the few schools in America that can claim a proud lacrosse tradition. With nine national titles in a sport that’s mainstream enough for national publicity but obscure enough to still have underground cach, SU has legitimate street cred where most schools don’t.

The only other person that could honestly challenge an SU fan in lacrosse props are Johns Hopkins followers, and they’re too busy with this month’s British Medical Journal to speak up.

Con: Every other sport

Soccer, swimming, softball – you name it and SU’s not really making waves. At a place like Stanford or Notre Dame, you can choose from a number of sports beyond the big moneymakers to follow. Syracuse gets pretty paltry crowds for its Olympic sports compared to many if its university peers. This usually isn’t a problem when basketball and football both do well, but we’ve discussed that already.

Pro: The Carrier Dome

Yeah, it’s bland, creaky and stuffier than Hell’s closet. But your mom didn’t stop loving you just because you’re ugly. That outdated, on-campus bubble has plenty of character from all its memories. Plus, I’ve been to some schools where it’s quite a trek to get to the athletic facilities, so we shouldn’t take for granted how clutch it is to have every major athletic event within walking distance of campus. And who can forget those old Nike ‘Dome Sweet Dome’ shirts that were 100 percent cotton double entendre?

Con: The weather

All the complaining in the world won’t change the brick wall of frost that greets you after every Dome exit. But here’s new food for thought: I had the pleasure of covering SU’s football game at Florida State last year, where hundreds of girls in the Seminole student section comfortably wore just their garnet-and-gold bikini tops for shirts … in October.

Pro: Orange the color

Forget blue or red or black, those are so pass. But orange, now that’s actually a color that’s both chic and exclusive. Very few schools employ orange as their primary hue, most notably Illinois and Princeton. But they can’t touch what SU can do. If Dome visitors ever got their act together and decided to have an orange-out by all wearing the color, it would be some sight to see.

Con: Orange the name

Can’t even count how many times my friends from home have done the whole ‘Your team is a fruit’ or ‘Your team is a color’ thing. I try to fight back to my Maryland and Delaware buddies that they’re not much better being the turtles and the chickens, but they’re quick to correct me in that they are vicious Terrapins and Fightin’ Blue Hens.

No matter how you slice it – pun intended – the elimination of ‘men’ and ‘women’ has turned SU into a perpetual fruity punching bag.

So there you have it.

See, it’s not all that bad being a Syracuse fan.

So what if other schools have tan, scantily clad co-eds watching numbers of good teams with vicious, fighting nicknames?

There’s still no place like Dome … at least during basketball season.