Syracuse Orange ranked No. 2 in college basketball
The Syracuse University men’s basketball team continued its climb up the national rankings on Monday.
With wins over Providence and Cincinnati, the Orange (23-1, 10-1 Big East) moved to No. 2 in The Associated Press media poll and third in the USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll.
Syracuse is off to its best start since its basketball program began in the 1900-01 season.
Kansas (22-1) is first in both polls. The Jayhawks received 55 of the 65 first-place votes in the AP poll and 29 of 31 in the USA Today/ESPN poll. Kentucky (22-1) is second in the coaches’ poll with 731 points, three more than Syracuse. Both the Wildcats and the Orange received one first-place vote.
The Orange have not been ranked this high in the AP poll since a six-week stretch at No. 1 in 1989-90.
The team’s all-time best start has captured the interest of fans in Rochester as well as Syracuse.
“I would say the team hasn’t been this good since the start of the 2004 season,” said Dave Stenson, 43, of Rochester.
Stenson attends several games each year and plans to be at the Carrier Dome when Syracuse takes on conference rivals Connecticut on Wednesday and Louisville on Sunday.
Stenson has been to nine games already this season and has been most impressed with the Orange’s defense and junior forward Wes Johnson, a 6-7 transfer who has emerged as a strong NBA prospect in his first season at Syracuse.
“When you see someone as good as he is, it really stands out,” Stenson said of the leading scorer (16.2 points per game) and rebounder (8.2 per game.)
The Big East has the most teams in the AP rankings with five, and four of those — Syracuse, Villanova, West Virginia and Georgetown — are in the top seven.
The Big East also leads the way with five teams in the coaches’ poll, including four in the top eight.
