Syracuse took quite a route to its first No. 1 ranking in 20 years.The Orange weren’t in the preseason Top 25 and, just days after it was released with them in “Others Receiving Votes,” they were beaten by Division II LeMoyne in an exhibition game.But they were back in the poll — at No. 10, in fact — just two weeks into the season after impressive wins over California and North Carolina in the 2K Sports Classic.
The Orange haven’t been out of the top 10 since and on Monday moved from fourth into the No. 1 spot, taking advantage of a weekend that saw the top three teams lose.”It’s a great honor, a great testament for these players, these kids, to be number one,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “We all know it doesn’t matter that much in the big picture, it’s where you are at the end of the year. These kids have worked hard, been unselfish. They deserve it. They really do.”Syracuse (27-2), which received 59 first-place votes from the national media panel, moved to the top off its 95-77 victory over then-No. 7 Villanova in front of an on-campus record crowd at the Carrier Dome.As always, it’s Syracuse’s 2-3 zone defense, which it didn’t use in the loss to LeMoyne, that is drawing all the attention in the rise up the polls.”The biggest thing is that we’ve been the biggest we’ve been inside in a long time and we just cover better. These guys have worked a little harder at it,” Boeheim said. Syracuse is the sixth team to go from unranked in the opening poll to No. 1. Kansas was the last, reaching No. 1 on Jan. 9, 1990.Kansas, which had been No. 1 for the last four weeks and 13 polls overall this season, had the other six first-place votes and dropped to second. The Jayhawks (27-2) lost at Oklahoma State on Saturday, the same day Kentucky (27-2) lost at Tennessee.—————Contact The Daily Reveille’s sports staff at [email protected]