The Syracuse Orangemen are one of the perennial competitors for the NCAA Championship in NCAA Men's basketball. Syracuse is a University out of Syracuse, NY that has taken part in Men's basketball for more than 100 years. Over time this school has become the 5th winningest team in the history of the sport at the collegiate level.
The team has a winning tradition that in ways surpasses the accomplishments of just about any other team. It is a given that this team will be in contention year in and year out. For an incredible 39 straight seasons the team has managed to have a winning season. This has created an atmosphere that welcomes talented players to come and compete as they know that they will be seen by the scouts at the next level.
Much of the success of this team over the last 4 decades can be attributed to coaching legend Jim Boeheim. Boeheim has been coaching the Orangemen for an incredible 34 years. His resume since joining the team has been impeccable. In his 34 seasons he has managed to lead the team to win 20 games or more an incredible 32 times.
In the process of winning all of these games the team has really had a tremendous amount success in winning tournament and conference championships. Under the reigns of Boeheim the team has managed to win 8 conference championships and five more tournament championships in their conference. This success has materialized into 25 appearances in the NCAA tournament in the 34 years that he has coached the team.
Despite all of the wins and successes under the direction of Boeheim, the team was not able to bring their game to the next level. In 1987 the team made their first championship game under the direction of Boeheim. In this game they played Indiana. Unfortunately, Indiana was just too strong for the team and they lost in their attempt to become National Champions.
The Orangemen battled their way back to the title game in 1996, where they took on Kentucky. Kentucky was a star studded team with many professional prospects. Rick Pitino had the team under control and they took the Championship with a 76-67 victory over the Orangemen. Syracuse would have to wait longer for their chance at a title.
In 2003, the team was led by the superstar freshman Carmelo Anthony. Anthony was impressive during the season, but he really turned it on in the tournament. He, along with sidekicks Gerry McNamara and Hakim Warrick, led the team all the way to the championship game. Anthony played amazing basketball throughout the tournament and helped lead the team past Kansas to win the NCAA Tournament. Carmelo Anthony was named the MVP of the tournament and brought Jim Boeheim and Syracuse a championship.
The team lost Carmelo Anthony and has not since seen the same sort of success. They are still perennial contenders, but the team has not been able to reach the Elite 8 since the 2003 championship. The team now goes by the name "Orange" instead of "Orangemen" in order to incorporate the women's sports as well.
