By Euclid 419er

Immediately after Devin Lynch scored his lay-up, securing Army’s mammoth upset of Syracuse in the closing seconds of the game’s second overtime last night, one thought popped into the minds of the Orange fan collective – Richmond.  Like the 2010 men’s lacrosse team, the 1991 men’s basketball team was a two seed with high expectations entering their respective tournaments.  And after it fell to Richmond in the opening round of the 1991 NCAA men’s basketball tournament, it set the bar for biggest upset in the history of Syracuse sports.  Syracuse would go on to suffer terrible upsets – (ie. Vermont) – but none ever matched the collapse in College Park. 

But SU lax tried its best last night, blowing a 5-1 lead and losing on its home turf to Army.  Insidelacrosse.com is already asking if this is the biggest tournament upset ever.  But is it the biggest Syracuse sports upset ever?  The debate has begun, especially on Twitter, with a heavyweight on each side. 

In one corner, the New York Times’ national college sports beat writer, former Daily Orange and the Syracuse Post-Standard reporter and Syracuse alumnus, Pete Thamel:

@PeteThamelNYT: Wow. Two-time defending lacrosse champion Syracuse loses at home in 2OT to Army. This is like Richmond over Syracuse in hoops in ’91.

In the other corner, an aficionado of Central New York sports, Syracuse ESPN radio host and Salt City native, Brent “The Axeman” Axe:

@AxemanBlog: I’ve seen more than one tweet/comment comparing this to SU Hoops loss to Richmond in ’91. SERIOUSLY people? Take a breath. Not even close

And, then to Thamel directly:

@AxemanBlog: @MattCC716 Really? Thamel said that. Come on, Pete. It’s not that dramatic.

Two extremely knowledgeable observers on opposite sides of the coin.  So who is right?  Thamel and his upset-of-historic-proportions contention? Or should we do as Axe suggests, take a deep breath and count backwards from five?  Now at the outset, many will say it’s apples and oranges, two totally different situations that cannot be compared.  But now that the rest of my May is free, I’ve gotta fill some space.  So let’s compare and contrast the bigger upset – 1991 Syracuse Orangemen basketball vs. 2010 Syracuse Orange lacrosse:

The Strength of Syracuse

1991 Bball: The 1991 Syracuse Orangemen finished the regular season with a 26-4 record and ranked sixth in the country. But the post season would not be kind.  They were booted from the Big East tourney by Villanova in the first round, which may have cost them a one seed.  They were given a 2-seed, which at that point had never lost to a 15-seed since the tournament expanded to 64 teams.

2010 Lax:  The men’s team was the two-time defending national champion and ranked #2 in the Nike Top 20 poll.  Their one loss was to the top ranked Virginia Cavaliers and that was only by one goal.  And with Virginia still dealing with the Yeardley Love tragedy, Syracuse became the odds-on favorite to win it all.

Winner:  Very close, but given the top heavy nature of the game and the nearly spotless record, edge goes to 2010 lax.

The Inferiority of the Opponent

1991 Bball:  Richmond was a 15 seed.  A 15 seed!  They had lost to the likes of Virginia Commonwealth, Virginia Tech the and Virginia Military Institute,  which finished the season with the 183rd, 185^th and 227^th best record in NCAA respectively. Regardless, they did what nobody had ever done and only three others had done since – knock off a 2.

2010 Lax:  Army was ranked 14^th in the final Nike poll with a rather unimpressive 10-6 record including losses to Bryant (I don’t have a clue either) and Air Force (which went 2-12).  They also got shellacked 17-2 by Hofstra.  However, they did enter the tournament as one of the hottest teams in the country, winning their last seven games of the season.  And the tournaments are quite different – with Army being the fifteenth best team in the tournament and Richmond being somewhere between the 57^th and 60^th best team of the 64-team field.

Winner: 1991 Bball

The Venue

1991 Bball:  ‘Cuse had to travel down to College Park, Maryland – not exactly a hike but not Albany or Buffalo.

2010 Lax:  The Carrier Dome.  Home turf.  22-1 all-time record in the tournament in the Dome.

Winner:  Need you ask?  2010 Lax.

The Stage

1991 Bball:  1991 was the first year that CBS broadcast the opening rounds of the tournament.  Syracuse’ game was on prime time in front of a national network audience.

2010 Lax: ESPNU on a Sunday night.  Not sure if you noticed, but there was a bevy of awesome movies on basic cable last night, too (Usual Suspects, Saving Private Ryan). 

Winner:  1991 Bball

The Game

1991 Bball:  Astonishingly, Syracuse never led in the game against Richmond, which they lost 73-69.  They did keep it close.  They were only down one with 21 seconds to play so it wasn’t quite like Georgetown’ s decision to not even show up against Ohio this past March.  But to never lead?  Wow. 

2010 Lax:  Syracuse blew a 5-1 lead and held off enough Army attacks in the 4^th quarter to send it to OT and then Double OT. 

Winner:  1991 Bball

The Impact on Syracuse Nation

1991 Bball:  The fact that the Richmond upset is the barometer by which we measure all other Syracuse upsets says it all. 

2010 Lax: Common response to emails/texts about the loss last night:  “Oh shit, Syracuse played last night?”

Winner:  1991 Bball 

So tally ‘em up, and the winner – or should we say loser – is 1991 Bball.  And really, it comes down to the last category.  Perhaps Thamel was suggesting that last night’s loss was for SU lacrosse what 1991 was for SU basketball.  But even if it was, Richmond was a far more inferior opponent than Army, and the loss took place on a much bigger stage.  So in this case, I gotta go with Axe and suggest folks take a breath. 

What say you?