Banners are going up around Syracuse neighborhoods. The first Orange ACC Tournament game is Friday.
Folks around Syracuse have grown quite comfortable with their Orange’s role in the Big East Tournament. The march down to Madison Square Garden was always something to talk about in Central New York.
Syracuse was a charter member in 1979. The rivalries with Georgetown, Villanova and Connecticut seemed to crank up even higher during the league tournament, at least in fans’ eyes.
But Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame left the Big East for the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The ACC Tournament starts today in Greensboro, N.C., but Syracuse has a double-bye until Friday.
The excursion to Greensboro isn’t quite as easy as hopping a train to the Big Apple.
But Syracuse fans will be riveted to this 15-school party nevertheless.
It might be quite different, being the new guys instead of the old guard.
If you’d like to ready my story on the site of Syracuse Public Media WAER, click the link below.
http://waer.org/post/now-you-can-be-ready-talk-acc-tournament-history
Do you watch league tournaments for college basketball or wait for the NCAA Tournament?
Mark Bialczak 
I forwarded my son this post. Thought he would get a kick out of ACC trivia. He went to UVA basketball games since he was a little boy visiting in VA, and then going to UVA himself. You are a Terrapin …hummm…
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Rivalry ends for your son and I after this year, Anne!
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Explain, please Mark. . . . Who is going where?
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Maryland is leaving the ACC to join the Big Ten starting next season in all sports.
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Oh, well good luck! Is that Ohio State?
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Yes, Anne. Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin, Penn State. That midwestern scene.
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So is it based on number of students? I think AZ State is over 70,000 students all over the Phoenix area. Is there a larger conference for them?
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It is not based on the number of students, Anne. It’s far more complicated than that, but basically, it’s based on how much money the colleges think they can make.
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My fave Maryland/VA story was a football game that I attended. The infamous, rude, edgy VA pep band went on the field at halftime to perform. And out danced a man in a striped jumpsuit. A gasp arose from the crowd and the pep band was punished for representing Marvin Mandel, the governor of Maryland who at that moment was in jail! Do you remember that?
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I could never forget it. I appreciate poking fun like that. One of my favorite edgy cuts came when Maryland was playing NC State, which had a player who had recently been arrested for holding up a pizza delivery guy. The Maryland fans greeted this player wearing T shirts with his name on it declaring XXXXX Pizza. Prices So Low It’s a Crime.
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That is funny….and I am glad that it is not just dear old UVA that is so rude to its opponents! Thanks for sharing !
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My husband swears this is the very best time of year because college basketball and baseball are on at once. When I was a student at the university of New Mexico entrance to basketball games at the pit was free with a student ID. Good times.
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The Lobos were pretty good in hoops, as I recall, Sandra. I bet it was fun in The Pit! And, your husband is a smart man!
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