Syracuse Basketball Shows Lack of Integrity With Self-Imposed Ban

On Wednesday, Syracuse University announced a self-imposed ban on all postseason tournaments for the 2015 season. This was in response to an ongoing investigation about academic issues and other infractions surrounding the university’s basketball program.

What an absolute embarrassment.

Syracuse currently sits at 15-7 and 6-3 in conference play and on the surface looks like your traditional bubble team for the NCAA tournament, but that is far from the truth. The fact is Syracuse’s RPI, which is the committee’s bible for determining the tournament seeds, sits at 70, and their strongest win of the year is against Iowa, whose RPI is currently 50. Who is Syracuse’s next best win according to RPI? Try Long Beach State. Syracuse’s six conference wins come against the five worst teams in the conference, and they have games upcoming against Duke (twice), Louisville, Notre Dame and Virginia.

The truth is, over their last nine games, Syracuse is probably looking at a 3-6 finish, with their record stumbling to 18-13. That would mean a first round ACC tournament matchup with a team like NC State or Pittsburgh, and even if they were fortunate enough to survive, Duke or Virginia would make quick work of them in the next round.

Syracuse saw an opportunity and they took it. They knew that they were most likely a one-and-done team in the ACC tournament and headed for the NIT. They are a mediocre basketball team. They had zero chance of finding themselves in the NCAA tournament and decided to impose this ban on themselves to appease the NCAA and those investigating the program. Somehow the ACC and commissioner John Swafford ate it up. Swafford was quoted as supporting the ban and basically patting Syracuse on the back.

The bottom line is Syracuse didn’t punish themselves at all.

They have banned themselves from participating in a postseason that was going to be the most disappointing for the university in a long time. This is the worst team Jim Boeheim has had since probably the 1997 team that couldn’t recover once John Wallace left for the NBA. They have punished their current roster from participating in the postseason for something that was done by athletes who are no longer on the roster. There isn’t one thing about this punishment that sits right.

But Boeheim and the university higher-ups are all smiles today in upstate New York. What Syracuse has done is preserved their competitiveness for the future. This ban will have no impact on next year’s team, or any team moving forward. They slapped themselves on the wrist while patting themselves on the back at the same time. They have made a mockery of the entire process and the NCAA needs to intervene. They need to wield additional sanctions against Syracuse, whether that is a loss of scholarships or some other type of punishment that actually puts some kind of strain on the program’s competitiveness.

This move is more transparent than a plate glass window.  Syracuse has embarrassed themselves, and more importantly, they have embarrassed the NCAA. Syracuse may not have any integrity, but don’t worry fans;  Boeheim will have the team ready to make a Final Four run this November.

Bill Zimmerman is a writer for www.RantSports.Com. Follow him on Twitter, like him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.