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Fans of the Syracuse University basketball team have become accustomed to busting out the Rolaids in November and December.  Every year it seems that the Orange find a way to lose to some underdog team at the Carrier Dome. Last year, Cleveland State defeated Syracuse early in the year, while Atlantic 10 also-rans UMass and Rhode Island both defeated the Orange in 2007.  Wichita State and Drexel pulled upsets in 2006, while tiny Bucknell dropped Syracuse at home early in the 2005 campaign.

As we said, the Syracuse faithful have become used to seeing at least one uninspiring performance from their team early in the season, so perhaps it a good thing that the Orange decided to use their Mulligan before the season even starts.  Last night, Number 25-ranked Syracuse lost to LeMoyne College, a Division II program also located in the city of Syracuse, 82-79.  LeMoyne guard Christopher Johnson hit a three-pointer with 8.3 seconds left to give the Dolphins the stunning victory.

“I feel bad that the story tomorrow will be, ‘What’s wrong with Syracuse basketball?’ I don’t think there’s anything wrong,” LeMoyne coach Steve Evans said. “They’ve got tremendous players. It’s an exhibition game. They’re young. They’re going to be terrific.”

Slow down, Steve.  Although there is precedent for Division II teams stunning a top flight program in the preseason (Michigan State lost to Grand Valley State in 2007.  The Spartans went on to finish second in the Big Ten, and eventually made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament), the glitches in the Syracuse defense that LeMoyne exposed last night could be very problematic. As all college basketball fans know, Syracuse usually plays zone defense, but last night, the Orange played a lot of man-to-man against the Dolphins, and LeMoyne was able to exploit that for several backdoor baskets.  If Syracuse is unable to play man-to-man at all this year, teams in the Big East will have a field day against them.

All is not lost in upstate New York, and it is better to lose in the preseason than it is to drop a game like this in the regular season.  But Syracuse definitely did not look like the 25th best team in the country last night.