The 2026 Orange::44 NCAA Tournament Bracket Bonanza!
0 Comments Published on 3.18.2026 by Brian Harrison
Another year. Another bracket.
It's tradition around here to post our annual brackets. So your boy BH and Constitutional Scholar JBren are back with brackets that will likely be very wrong by 2pm Friday, but here we are. Because if nothing else, we're consistent. So here's hoping the arena collapses when Duke and UConn play. Have fun and stay safe. Until next year...
The 2025 Orange::44 NCAA Tournament Bracket Bonanza!
0 Comments Published on 3.19.2025 by Brian Harrison
Somehow we're still doing this.
It's that time of year again. And while we don't regularly blog here anymore, and Syracuse didn't make the Tournament again, John and I are glutton for punishment by publicly posting or brackets every season. So win, lose, or draw, we still have fun watching the games and trying to guess who's going to advance. And remember, ABC. Anyone but UConn. Enjoy!
The 2024 Orange::44 NCAA Tournament Bracket Bonanza!
0 Comments Published on 3.20.2024 by Brian Harrison
At least we still do this.
Some traditions just don't die. Like John and I posting our brackets. Syracuse is out again, but they won't be for long. But we love March Madness too much to not do this. Let's go dancing!
The 2023 Orange::44 NCAA Tournament Bracket Bonanza!
1 Comments Published on 3.16.2023 by Brian Harrison
Syracuse is again sitting at home while the NCAA Tournament goes on. But we're not going to let that stop us from posting our brackets again. John picks the Boilermakers to lift the trophy, while I'm going with the #1 overall seed Alabama. Both are plausible this season. But one thing seems for sure, it probably won't be Gonzaga again. Thoughts on Boeheim retiring coming soon.
The 2022 Orange::44 NCAA Tournament Bracket Bonanza!
0 Comments Published on 3.17.2022 by Brian Harrison
I will still watch an awful lot of basketball this month.
It's that time of year again. And while Syracuse will be watching from home, the love of college basketball permeates everything in the month of March. As per tradition, both JBren and I have posted our brackets (yes, our ONE bracket each) for all to ridicule or exhault. We each have a different champ again this year. John is going with Baylor (who I correctly picked last year), while I'm taking Arizona. May the best and drunkest man win.
Labels: Bracket Challenge, Brackets, NCAA Tournament
Syracuse students agree: This game will be more of the first.
Syracuse, as expected, opened the season with a nice win over Lafayette. And now the Drexel Dragons come into the Carrier Dome in the hopes of a huge early season upset. But that will likely not be the case as Syracuse is just getting rolling on a season which has shown that Syracuse will be a very high powered shooting team. Drexel is a decent offensive team that is very efficient with the ball, but they were one of the slowest last season. If Syracuse is able to speed this game up and get fast break points, this one will be over early. And there is no reason to think that won't be the case. Drexel's Camren Wynter is their best player, who averaged over 16ppg last season. So he's likely to do some damage from behind the arc. But either way Syracuse will be bigger and have more firepower. Syracuse over Drexel by 24. This game is available on ESPN 2 at 5pm. GO ORANGE!
Labels: Basketball, Preview
Syracuse students agree: It's great to be back.
It's a new season, which means we're back. And by we I mean mostly me. But also sometimes John. But still mostly me. And we have a basketball preview, which means the new season is upon us. Syracuse opens their season against... <checks notes>... Lafayette. The Lafayette Leopards. I applaud them for going with an alliterated mascot. Either way, they were the 2021 Patriot League "division season champs" with a record of 9-5. Syracuse is 8-0 all time against them, last playing in 1995, with John Wallace dropping 20 points on them. Lafayette isn't good defensively and Syracuse is better than every team in the Patriot League. This shouldn't be a contest. Look for Edwards to get some confidence and excel inside, while Cole Swider and Buddy Boeheim (and probably Joe Girard) drill some threes to give Syracuse a big lead early in the 2nd half. This shouldn't be close. The only question is how early Jim pulls the starters to give some younger players some time on the floor. Syracuse by 28. This game is available regionally. Check your local listings here. For everyone else, it's internet only. Welcome back to basketball (even though the football team is very much not done for the year) and, as always, GO ORANGE!
Labels: Basketball, Preview
Happy trails to an absolute legend.
Syracuse made the official announcement, followed by Desko's statement, confirming that the 4th Head Coach of the Syracuse Lacrosse program has elected to retire. In the history of the Syracuse program, John was just the 4th head coach in over 100 years of playing lacrosse. And, like all of his predecessors, he too is in the Lacrosse Hall of Fame. So upon his retirement, we at Orange::44 need to celebrate the contributions and legacy of John Desko.
His accomplishments are almost unmatched. He finishes his career with a 258-86 record, with a win percentage of .750 in 22 years. He earned 5 National Championships as a Head Coach, and 6 as an assistant on the team. He's been involved with Syracuse University Lacrosse since stepping on the field as a freshman in 1976. Much like Jim Boeheim, he never left. He spend 19 years as an assistant to Roy Simmons, Jr. before being elevated to Head Coach. He's won 35 NCAA Tournament games, and from 2000-2009, Desko won half the NCAA title games played, playing in the title game six times. In 2020 he was elected to the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Only Bill Tierney of Denver has a better win percentage among active coaches. Only DIII coach Steve Colfer reached 250 wins faster than Desko, who did it in 22 seasons. Not to mention four Big East Conference Tournament titles, two ACC Tournament titles, Division 1 Coach of the Year honors in 2008, and ACC Coach of the Year four times from 2015-2018. He made the NCAA Tournament 21 out of his 22 seasons as Head Coach, ten Final Fours, three NCAA runner ups, and obviously the five titles. It's hard to believe that any coach could achieve all that Desko has done, let alone be only the fourth coach at a program and continue to win National Championships. But he did it better than almost everyone, and for a very long time.
I'm sad to see him go, but I'm glad that it's through retirement, and not because he was fired. People love the narrative he was shoved out, but there isn't any evidence of that. The anonymous source that leaked the news Gait was replacing him said "retirement", and an anonymous source doesn't need to lie to protect anyone's feelings. It's just a shame some athletic compliance member, or some clout chasing parent decided to spoil what should have been a grand celebration farewell to a legend. And I'm not using that word legend lightly. He is, and will be forever known as, a lacrosse coaching legend. Only 3 Division 1head coaches have more titles in the NCAA era than Desko, and one of them is Roy Simmons, Jr. He's tied with only one other. But in his entire coaching career, was part of 11 titles in the NCAA era, a feat unmatched by any other D1 coach. I look forward to seeing him sit besides Roy and Jim Boeheim in that famous box as next season tips off. Lord knows he's earned it. And hopefully he'll get a nice ceremony.
Next season it something to worry about in the future. Right now, we should thank John Desko for keeping Syracuse the best Division 1 Lacrosse Program in history. We'll likely never see another coach, and another run like that again. But here's hoping.
Labels: Athletic Department, Business Ethics, Lacrosse, Syracuse Lacrosse