Boeheim admits more wins would have made better case for Tourney

SYRACUSE, NY — Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim held his annual end of season press conference today, and in the wake of his team failing to qualify for the NCAA basketball tournament, the Orange head coach admitted that winning more might improve his team’s chances of making the field of 65.

“That probably would’ve made a more compelling case to the selection committee,” Boeheim said. “We thought we had enough, so we pretty much mailed it in at the end. But in retrospect, a couple more wins might just have put us over the top.”

The Orange finished the season with a 19-13 record. The team faded down the stretch, ending with a lopsided loss to Villanova in the first round of the Big East Conference Tournament. It is the second straight year that Syracuse has been left out, but Boeheim told SSNN that he was far more upset after last year’s 24-11 team was snubbed than he is this season.

“I spent a lot of time whining last year,” Boeheim now admits. “Hell, let’s face it; I spent practically the whole month of March telling people how we should have been in the tournament. I spent nearly the whole summer talking about it, even after people stopped listening. Finally my wife said, ‘Jim, get over it, for Chrissakes.’ So finally, I got off the couch and started recruiting. By then, of course, all the good recruits were gone and I was stuck with the dregs.”

Boeheim also admitted that last year’s snub affected his coaching this season.

“Well, yeah, I was still thinking about it. I wanted to show those people what was what. I figured the best way to do this would be to get on the bubble again, only this time get into the tourney. I was already preparing our case. In hindsight, I probably could have put this time to better use by coaching, and recruiting and… you know, that sort of stuff. Plus, I never thought we’d lose to ‘Nova; they were down this year.”

When asked why he didn’t do things like win conference titles and get number one seeds, Boeheim reflected on the past.

“Well, I used to do things like that. Then that one year we were a two seed and lost in the first round, and people acted like I was the biggest idiot in the world. Then we win the title as a fourth seed and I’m a genius. I’ve decided it’s better to keep expectations low and then sneak up on people.”

It’s going to be tough for this sport to sweep any nations, but it’s still pretty frickin’ cool!