#4 Syracuse faced #8 Villanova at the Carrier Dome on Saturday night. It was the largest on campus crowd ever with 34,616 of your closest basketball friends.
Nova John from Score's Mike "Birthday" / MBA Party in early February was supposed to get me a ticket. He was taking a party bus up from the City with mostly Nova fans. As Nova John is a Nova fan, my expectations were low and were unfortunately met. I never heard back from him and I didn’t get a ticket.
I texted Michelle and Kal on Saturday afternoon that #1 Kansas lost at Oklahoma State and #2 Kentucky lost to Tennessee. This set the stage for Syracuse to go to #1 if they beat #8 Nova. Yes, I thought Syracuse would have leap frogged Purdue regardless of what happened on Sunday. (On Sunday, #3 Purdue lost to #14 Michigan State.)
Villanova had a lead in the first half. But, Syracuse went on a 20-6 run to end the first half with a ten point lead. The momentum continued in the second half as the Syracuse defense kicked into gear and suffocated Nova. Syracuse rebounded and hustled. The bench was great and everything clicked (knock wood) enroute to the final score of Syracuse 95 - Villanova 77. Syracuse clinched a share of the Big East Championship and a #1 seed in the Big East Tournament.
Monday’s AP and ESPN/USA Today vote was a formality. Michelle texted me on Monday afternoon that Syracuse is #1 now in the polls. Mega thanks Michelle for confirming that I already knew Syracuse is #1! But I will not take any opponent for granted. One game at a time. St. John's is next.
Posted by an excited Tank grateful for Syracuse’s #1 Ranking.
P.S. Michelle and I agreed that her nephew Ian is still banned from the Carrier Dome. Since I am a kind person, Ian’s grounding will be lifted if Syracuse becomes National Champions, God Willing!