Can the Orange navigate the ACC without Dyaisha Fair?
The Syracuse Orange women’s basketball season gets underway tonight when the Niagara Purple Eagles visit the JMA Wireless Dome. Felisha Legette-Jack’s team is looking to make a repeat trip to the NCAA Tournament so let’s make some season predictions for the Orange:
Kevin: 16-13, 8-10 ACC, No post-season
I’ve got the women finishing their non-conference schedule with an 8-3 record, but unlike the men I think they will have a difficult time in conference play. It’s hard for me to determine how will this team does without Dyaisha Fair carrying the load on offense. Will not relying on one player make them a bit harder to defend? Maybe, but without Fair this group might struggle to make up deficits.
Dom: 17-12, 9-9 ACC, NIT
Syracuse has a puncher’s chance to gain a key win in the non-con, but I think this is the year where the depth of the ACC catches up to the Orange especially without the go-to scoring of Fair. I’m factoring in plenty of regression to the mean with some of those insane upsets and comeback wins that easily could’ve been losses. Factor in a ton of new pieces, most of them playing their first collegiate year, and it’s hard to believe this is better than an NIT-bound team. As with most FLJ-led team, let’s hope our predictions are underselling what ends up happening.
Mike: 17-12, 9-9 ACC, NIT
There’s bound to be some regression to the mean after all of last season’s heroics, and unfortunately I think that means a lack of early season upsets from a more inexperienced group. The ACC is, as always, a gauntlet to navigate and a .500 record is a reasonable goal to shoot for this season. That said, the idea of another one-and-done in the conference tournament sounds far fetched, and that’ll be enough to ensure a third straight trip to the postseason.
Sam: 14-15, 7-11 ACC, No postseason
Are you guys making me the low man on both men’s and women’s predictions? Oh well. Time to embrace that I guess.
I had a ton of fun watching Syracuse women’s basketball last year. They played hard, mostly smart, and had an answer to almost every question.
Unfortunately, that answer was usually Dyaisha Fair, and without her, I think Syracuse will struggle badly on the offensive end. Not only do I not feel the Orange replaced the 22 points per game that Fair provided, I’m not sure that they can even recreate it in the aggregate.
The team will play hard, that’s a hallmark for FLJ, but the ACC is a much better on the women’s side than men’s. Just being mediocre isn’t enough in this league.
SU’s freshman class is really fun, and if the program can keep them around, I think the core will be able to get this team back to the NCAA Tournament. Just not quite yet.
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Do you think Syracuse will get back to the NCAA Tournament this season?