Listen we all get it. Syracuse isn’t making the NCAA tournament barring some sort of magical run to an ACC championship. While that sucks, at least the Orange have the NIT to fall back on and maybe can make some noise in that tournament right? That’s what I thought. But when you do some digging, you come to find that Orange are in fact on the bubble….for the NIT. How is this even possible?

So there are conflicting reports of whether Syracuse is actually in or not. According to “Mid Major Madness,” an SB Nation site that covers mid major programs, their latest NIT Bracketology has the Orange as 5th seed where they would face 4th seed Tennessee. Dratings.com also confirms that the Orange would be a 5 seed as well if the season were to end today.

Where things start to get concerning is when you look at the Bracket Matrix. Yes believe it or not Bracket Matrix even does projections for the NIT. When you look as their latest report, Syracuse is nowhere to be found when it comes to the NIT. Now you can say it’s just one site’s opinion and there really isn’t anything to worry about. While yes it’s just one site, look at what the other sites are saying. The Orange as a 5th seed? Yikes. Even with a season of ups and downs you would think the Orange would at least be a 4th seed or higher. Right now before the start of the ACC tournament that just isn’t the case.

So what can the Orange do to avoid this embarrassing fate? Simple. Just win. Well, at least one game in the ACC tournament. That will require a win against Virginia Tech or North Carolina which is a lot easier said then done. First off the Orange split the regular season series with the Hokies in tight contests and got blown out by North Carolina 92-79 on February 29th. Second, Syracuse has only won 2 ACC tournament games since joining the conference back in the 2013-2014 season. Not saying it’s impossible for that to happen, but with the Orange not being able to make three point shots and their offense struggling to score, it’s not looking great.

At the end of the day we all knew back in October that making the NCAA tournament was no guarantee. That I can live with. What I can’t stand is for this team to not even make the NIT. To miss the NIT would be a catastrophic failure. This season has been rough on Orange nation, so just do us all a favor Syracuse and at least make the NIT. Just win one ACC tournament game. I’m setting the bar low for you and somehow I have a feeling you will still find a way to disappoint me in the end. That’s just what Syracuse basketball does lately.