Syracuse Wins CBE

Two huge -- huge -- non-conference wins for Syracuse the last two nights. I know that this year's versions of Kansas and Florida are hardly the teams that have combined to win the last three national championships between them, but they are high-profile programs that started the season in the Top 25.

Syracuse has missed the NCAA Tournament each of the last two seasons, not a little bit because they play a famously soft non-conference schedule. I don't want to say that the Orange have locked up a bid already, but they've made their jobs a hell of a lot easier on themselves when it comes to what they need to do in a brutal Big East. .500 in the conference looks a lot better when you have wins like these under your belt.

They can be better than what they were in last night's 89-81 overtime win over Kansas, though. Eric Devendorf and Jonny Flynn played sluggishly and selfishly through most of the night, sparked only when Flynn -- for a reason I couldn't really figure out -- got into a jawing match with his opposite number, Sherron Collins. His inspired play down the stretch -- combined with timely rebounding from Paul Harris and a smart decision by Jim Boeheim to switch to man-to-man defense -- won them the game. But if they can score 89 points (albeit in overtime) against a very good Kansas team on a night they aren't playing particularly well together, think of what they might be able to accomplish when they're clicking. In particular, I'm thinking the January 17 date in the Carrier Dome with Notre Dame is a must-watch; the Irish can fill it up and don't like to play much defense.

Speaking of Notre Dame, they're in the finals of the Maui Invitational tonight against North Carolina. I'll have a whole Maui wrapup post after those games tonight.