Syracuse?!

Frank Burlison, normally the most sensible college basketball writer, snuck this gem in at the end of his NBA Draft article. With Aaron Gray back at center, the Panthers will challenge Georgetown and Syracuse to be the best in the Big East. With Gray in an NBA uniform, that isn’t very likely to happen.

I'm not sure what Syracuse team he saw that would be capable of leaping from 9th in Big East to top two in one season, especially with Gerry McNamara graduating. The one without another proven point guard on the roster? The one whose way overhyped 2003 recruiting class has continually disappointed? While they had a great four day run at MSG, they were extremely inconsistent all last year. Top ten recruit Paul Harris will be a big contributor, but he alone won't catapult the Orange from middle of the pack to top 2 in conference. Syracuse will be much closer to sixth than second, with Georgetown, Marquette, UConn and Pitt, even without Gray, looking better, and a young Louisville team that could really surprise and finish in the top quarter of the conference. Also, Villanova would be ahead of the Orange should Kyle Lowry pull out of the draft and return to school.