Syracuse was one of the last teams announced on TV for the 2016 NCAA Tournament, but the Orange wasn’t as close to the bubble as most experts predicted. Jim Boeheim’s SU team finished 19-13 in the regular season with a 9-9 record in conference play, but earned a No. 10 seed and will face seventh-seeded Dayton on Friday at 12:15 p.m. in St. Louis.

Here are three things the Syracuse head coach said after learning of his team’s postseason fate.

It’s the happiest he’s been on this day in 40 years

Syracuse’s spot in the NCAA Tournament certainly wasn’t set in stone heading into Selection Sunday, but the Orange’s bid left its head coach smiling and smirking just minutes after SU was the last team announced on TV for the field of 68.

“This is the happiest I’ve been on Selection Sunday in all my years of coaching,” Boeheim said. “I couldn’t be happier for this group. Obviously it’s been a very difficult year, tough year, a lot of ups and downs, a lot of tough games.”

Syracuse grabbed five wins against teams in the RPI top 50, but dropped five of its last six including its conference tournament opener. It started conference play 0-4, lost three games to one team and had to spend a full month without any form of contact with its head coach.

All that piled up and Boeheim was elated to receive the seed Syracuse did with many forecasts having the Orange out of the field entirely a year after it self-imposed a postseason ban.

“You know, obviously when there’s so much doubt … I think a lot of negativity, that for these guys to overcome all that … I’m so happy for this team with everything that’s happened this season last season,” Boeheim said. “For Mike (Gbinije) and Trevor (Cooney) to get back to the Tournament is just crucial.”

Hot start paid off in the end for Syracuse

The Orange got off to a roaring start in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, winning four consecutive games to start the season 6-0 and vault itself to a No. 14 national ranking.

In that stretch in the Bahamas, Syracuse defeated Connecticut and Texas A&M, two teams that received bids to the NCAA Tournament. Also in the Battle 4 Atlantis field were Tournament teams Michigan, Texas and Gonzaga.

“I think we got into the tournament based on the start of this year,” Boeheim said. “Going to Atlantis and winning that tournament, I think five of the teams from that tournament are in the field, it might even be six.”

Boeheim’s second guess was correct and on top of strong wins at Duke, against Notre Dame and against St. Bonaventure, the Orange rounded out a resume that began with a boost that benefitted its seeding in the end.

“My son, he’s pretty smart,” Boeheim said. “He said six teams (from the Battle 4 Atlantis) are in. You won the tournament so you should get in.”

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MORE COVERAGE:

• Syracuse reacts to bizarre NCAA Tournament bracket leak
• Rapid thoughts on Syracuse-Dayton NCAA Tournament matchup
• Storify: Community reacts to SU earning a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament
• Trevor Cooney on making the NCAA Tournament: ‘It’s almost everything’

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How Boeheim thinks the selection committee weighed his suspension

Before Selection Sunday, the NCAA said it would take into account Boeheim’s nine-game suspension in which the Orange posted a 4-5 record with assistant coach Mike Hopkins at the helm.

It would presumably play to SU’s benefit, as the NCAA likened it to a team without one of its strongest players, according to a story in The Post-Standard. But when Syracuse received its seeding on Sunday, even though it was much better than most expected, Boeheim didn’t think his absence was influential at all.

“As I look at it now, that had nothing to do with it,” Boeheim said. “I don’t think that played in. I’m sure they thought about it, talked about it, but at the end of the day I don’t think that mattered.”

Published on March 13, 2016 at 9:01 pm

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