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Off the heels of a Syracuse lacrosse loss vs. Army, not to mention an unanticipated NCAA tournament exit vs. Butler, the folks at Otto’s Army started thinking – where do these losses rank in the annals of Syracuse defeats?

New York Times college sports beat writer Pete Thamel likened the Army upset to the infamous 1991 Richmond defeat, while Syracuse ESPN radio voice Brent Axe completely dismissed that notion.

To answer this once and for all, we gathered up the writers and asked a guest reader to offer their opinions, focused on the following question:

In your estimation, what was the worst loss suffered by Syracuse in the last 20 years?

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Steve Schaefer, Otto’s Army

Now I’m sure the Richmond loss was no picnic, but I was six years old at the time and had no inkling of my future days as an Orangeman. As I’ve written previously, I think about crushing defeats for Syracuse, it doesn’t get worse than March 2005.

I was at a 21st birthday party, with a group of friends that included virtually no one else that went to a big-time sports school – most of the partygoers were attending schools like Albany, Binghamton and Fordham, or local colleges near home. Seemingly inexplicably, a close friend going to Binghamton had latched onto the Vermont Catamounts earlier that year as his favorite team. I didn’t exactly get the reasoning – his parents had a ski house there but what does that matter? – but I didn’t begrudge him the fact that he was rooting against the Orangemen. Plus, Vermont was a 14-seed. How could they possibly take down a team coming off of back-to-back trips to the Sweet Sixteen and just two years removed from a National Championship?

What I failed to realize – blame it on my naiveté or the river of beer swimming through my 20-year-old bloodstream – was that since that magical 2003 run, Syracuse had gone from the hunter to the hunted. These same friends that had called and texted with congratulatory messages when Carmelo took home the 2003 title in New Orleans were now jonesing for an upset. As Vermont hung with Syracuse and stifled G-Mac and Hakeem, I could tell the tide was turning against me. By the final buzzer there were a few sympathetic looks, and I felt completely empty inside.

Halfway between embarrassment and anger there was me – three months shy of my 21^st birthday, drunk off my ass and wondering how so much could have gone wrong so quickly.

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Tom Sullivan, Otto’s Army

The term “worst” can be interpreted in a lot of different ways. Is it defined simply as a blowout or a game that you’ll just never be able to get over? For Syracuse fans, we’ve obviously got the hoops loss to Vermont in 2005 and Sunday’s monumental upset in men’s lacrosse at the hands of the US Military Academy.  

But considering how the last decade has fared, I’ve got to go with one of the many painful losses the football team has suffered. The toughest part is trying to figure out which one of the seemingly dozens hurt the most.  The 51-0 national TV blowout against Purdue in Coach Pasqualoni’s final season at the helm? The 10 point loss to Temple that same year (how did we ever qualify for a bowl in 2004)? We certainly can’t forget Greg Robinson all but sealing his fate with a two touchdown loss at home to Akron in 2008.

But when I think about the worst loss in 20 years for Syracuse and its football program, I’ve got to look at the 24-21 loss to Rutgers in the 1999 season. That game was the start of the fall of Syracuse football. Sure they went on to finish the season 7-5 with a win over Kentucky in the Music City Bowl, but this was the first true sign that the days of the Orangemen being among the nation’s upper echelon programs may have been behind it.

This was Rutgers.

And anyone who remembers just how bad Rutgers was historically up until the last 7 years or so knows how unexpected, painful and unacceptable that loss was at the time. It was just 2006 when Rutgers was named among the worst 5 programs in college football history. That loss was the first among many in the latter part of the Coach Pasqualoni era that, in the words of Rick Pitino, reminded the fan base Donovan McNabb was not walking back through those doors. The Rutgers loss was the start of many over the following decade that ultimately cost two coaches their jobs and a program its rabid fan base.

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Dave Cooperman, Otto’s Army

The recent loss suffered by the Syracuse Lacrosse team has stirred up quite a few nasty memories and naturally there is a masochistic need to determine the nastiest of the bunch.  Specifically, we ask what stands as the most soul crushing defeat of the last 20 years.

Let’s start by knocking out the most famous.  Syracuse vs. Richmond might be our most famous loss but it won’t take the honors on my list.  The significance in this loss comes from three outside sources.  It was the first year CBS had the tournament, the game was played in primetime and it was to that point the first time a 15 seed beat a 2 seed.

From a pure basketball standpoint I don’t believe the Richmond loss was much worse than the Vermont loss.  How much of a difference at the end of the day is their between a 14 seed and a 15 seed?    Each had their share of ups and downs all year.  The 2005 team got hot late and went out quick.  The 1991 team struggled late and took it with them into the tournament.  Each version was packed with the players to make a deep run yet ultimately couldn’t get it together. If you reverse the years of the losses, then Vermont would be looked upon as an all time upset.  Too many outside factors involved, two bad losses, two teams who were not going to the Final Four, so that is where it ends for me.

Forget Army this past weekend.  Syracuse lacrosse is coming off consecutive national titles and at the end of the day they compete every single season.  Their most hardcore fans don’t know suffering.

The football team has taken some embarrassing losses – Temple, Rutgers, Akron – national TV blowouts and bowl game fiascos.  But a true gut wrenching loss has to come with true expectations and for far too long Syracuse football hasn’t had any of those.  At some point you just become numb to the pain

So that takes me to the worst loss of the last 20 years.  It took place in Salt Lake City only two months ago at the hands of the Butler Bulldogs.  Here is why:

Expectations: This Orange team was a legit championship threat and not just for the month of March.  This team announced its presence in November and rode the polls all the way up to #1.  Our inevitable trip to Indianapolis was season long banter.  You get a lot of tournament teams in Syracuse, but not an awful lot of title contenders.  This was one of them

Performance: Let’s go ahead and say it, Syracuse sucked that night.  It was their worst game of the year, yet there was enough tease in their tank to make me believe that they were still going to pull it off in the second half.

Buildup: Syracuse absolutely dismantled Gonzaga and was the talk of the tourney going into the Sweet 16.  They looked like they would never lose again following that game.

Goodbyes: Last game for Andy Rautins and Wesley Johnson.  Never had a chance to get Arinze Onuaku on the court to make a difference.  All incredibly likable players.  All gone.

The Aftermath: Butler rides the win to the National Finals with Duke.  To get there they knock off Kansas St, and a depleted Michigan St. team.  Syracuse wasn’t going to lose to either of those teams.  The road to the Finals was there for them.

Further Aftermath: Butler becomes the darling of the nation, and we get to sit back and watch the whole thing.

So in conclusion, this was the best wire to wire Syracuse team of the past 20 years and the premature conclusion was the worst loss of the bunch.

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Tim Schlittner, Otto’s Army

First of all, I don’t think a lacrosse game should be in the discussion. I would suspect lacrosse is an afterthought for the average Syracuse fan. I consider myself an Orange diehard and never made it to a single game during my four years on campus. Sure, Syracuse playing in the lacrosse championship game always provides a nice backdrop for Memorial Day Weekend; but somehow I think life will go on at the Jersey Shore this year.

Basketball has its candidates. In 1991, I was a white haired ten-year old dealing with the calamity that was Giants head coach Ray Handley (In protest, I dressed up as him for Halloween in unflattering garb which led to me being refused candy at several houses). Needless to say, the Orangemen were not on my radar so I never truly felt the pain of the Richmond loss. The 2005 Vermont fiasco was gut-wrenching. This year’s loss to Butler was even worse given the opportunity that was squandered. And the inexplicable 2007 NCAA snub left me feeling the most empty of all.

Then we have football. I have had the dubious distinction of attending many of the most agonizing defeats in person (which can often make it more painful). These include the debacles at Temple in 2004 and Rutgers in 1999. Add to that the overtime disaster against Iowa in 2006 and the humiliating blowout loss to Georgia Tech in the 2004 Champs Sports Bowl and I’ve been in the seats for some pretty brutal outcomes.

With so much to choose from and no clear favorite, I’m going to take some artistic liberty with my answer. I’m going to say the worst loss suffered by Syracuse in the last 20 years was Michael Vick. By everyone’s account, Vick was strongly leaning toward coming to Syracuse in 1999, ready to take the reins from Donovan McNabb and continue an era of Big East dominance. He admired McNabb and was impressed by Syracuse’s history of successful African-American quarterbacks. But head coach Paul Pasqualoni failed to capture the magic that allowed Ben Schwartzwalder to recruit Jim Brown, Ernie Davis and Floyd Little consecutively. It is reported that Pasqualoni told Vick he’d be “the next Donovan McNabb” and offered him his #5 jersey. But Vick, who wanted his own identity, was turned off and headed to Virginia Tech. Our football program has never recovered.

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Euclid 419er, Otto’s Army

November 13, 2004.  Syracuse was in Philly to take on the Temple Owls.   What a perfect opportunity to drive up from DC and meet up with some buddies coming down from New York.  We’d have some pre-game spirits, watch a win in a great NFL stadium and celebrate on into the evening.  After George Bush had won the presidential election days before, I needed a pick-me-up.  Instead, Syracuse got Swift-boated.

While the game was at Lincoln Financial, it was Washington that was on everyone’s mind after that day, my friends.  Temple QB Walter Washington carved up the eleven Syracuse players who were on the field when we did not have possession of the ball (I dare not call it defense), and the Owls sent Syracuse packing 34-24.  I mean, this was Temple.  TEMPLE!  A team that was expelled from the Big East after that season for sucking and not getting any people to come watch them suck, except by luring fools like me to travel hundreds of miles under the false pretenses that they’d be decent enough to let me to see a Syracuse win.  There have been other bad losses – Vermont in the tournament is the other big contender in this conversation – but having witnessed this atrocity in person tips the scale. 

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Guest Reader: HoyaSuxa

I stink at these exercises. 

As the years pass, peaks and valleys tend to distill into general themes.  For example, take the 1999-2000 Orange basketball season.  Even though I could give chapter and verse on that season 10 years ago, all I remember from that campaign now is, “Fast start.  Great senior class.  Lost to Georgetown in the opening round of the Big East Tournament (stupid Lee Scruggs).  Shumpert was scary hot down the stretch.  Should’ve beaten Michigan State.”

Despite this fact, some games do stand out as especially cringe worthy.  In addition to the 20-year limitation, I’m also imposing some other restrictions on eligible candidates:

The loss must be associated with the football, basketball, or lacrosse team.  Sorry, crew team.  I don’t care about very sad losses to Fordham or whoever else you row against. 

The loss must have consequence.  I’m looking at tournament exits, games that decided a shot at championships, and games that eliminated the possibility of tournament or bowl invitations.  Regular season nonsense that merely holds the status of “gut punch” means nothing to me.  For example, I’m not considering the Carrier Dome loss to Oklahoma after Syracuse’s huge comeback; I’m also not considering the loss to Butler in the basketball tournament this year because that Bulldogs team was pretty damn good; and Syracuse-Vermont miss the cut because the Catamounts were significantly underseeded, Syracuse was overseeded, and Tom Brennan can go to hell.  You get the idea, right?  Good.

Other than that, it’s open season.

Games That Stunk, But Missed The Cut

This list could probably populate an encyclopedic volume, but I’ll limit it to only a few.

Syracuse at Rutgers — Football (1999).  The conditions were terrible in Piscataway that day and Rutgers beat Syracuse for the first time in eons.  This was probably the first chink in the Orangemen armor and help round out a relatively miserable season.  This game can’t take “worst loss ever” status for two reasons: (1) Syracuse only ended up 7-5, 3-4 in 1999; and (2) There was nothing on the line (except, you know, the pride associated with not losing to a bunch of scrubs under Terry Shea’s direction).  I include it here merely for the fact that Rutgers went 1-10 in 1999 and that iteration of the Scarlet Knights was arguably the worst team in Big East history prior to Greg Robinson’s four-year experiment in program arson.

Ohio at Syracuse — Basketball (1998).  What a miserable start to my college career.  The entire purpose of the Carrier Classic was to give Syracuse two opportunities to viciously pound some teams into submission before the nonconference slate heated up.  It didn’t happen in 1998 when Ohio decided it was going to go ahead and win its “first round” game against the Orangemen.  The game was ultimately pitiful (how can you possibly play in the consolation game of your own tournament?) but it had no residual impact: The Orangemen made the NCAA tournament that year and bowed out with quick grace to Oklahoma State.  The Ohio game was a failure, but it didn’t ruin a season.

Army at Syracuse / Syracuse at Loyola / Syracuse at Massachusetts / Colgate at Syracuse — Lacrosse (2007).  2007 was a mess of a season for John Desko.  Ending the season at 5-8, it was the first year in almost 30 years in which the Orange did not participate in the NCAA tournament.  Even if you could pick out a loss from this bunch as the worst, it wouldn’t really matter: Syracuse was horrendous in the campaign and losing to all of these teams was never out of the realm of possibility (although, the Army loss in the Dome was especially frightening).

The Pool of Candidates

I’m picking between three games, one each for the primary sports:

Richmond-Syracuse (Basketball – 1991)

Syracuse-Temple (Football – 2004)

Army-Syracuse (Lacrosse – 2010)

I want to start with the football game first.  If Syracuse had beaten Temple down at The Vet in 2004, Syracuse would’ve held an outright Big East Championship instead of having to share the crown with just about every other team in the league.  Temple was atrocious in 2004, going 2-9 and actually got booted from the league after the season.  This was the nail in Pasqualoni’s coffin and really showed how far the football program had slipped (this loss to Temple actually came a year after Rutgers smoked Syracuse 24-7).

And that’s the problem with this game.  While it has all the makings of “worst loss ever,” it is deficient in a major aspect: Syracuse wasn’t all that good.  You can’t have a “worst loss ever” if a loss is a reasonable proposition.  Horrendous game on all fronts, but I think it’s the least terrible of the annotated three.

I think Richmond-Syracuse kind of speaks for itself.  Syracuse started the season ranked 13th, spent most of the season in the top-ten, were regular season Big East Champions at 12-4 (I think), and had an absolute basketball dragon in Billy Owens.  This was one of the best Syracuse teams that Jim Boeheim has had. 

There were, though, some indications that the team peaked early.  The Orange lost their first-round Big East Tournament game to Villanova and licked its wounds as the 7th-ranked two-seed in the NCAA tournament.  That Richmond team was far from a bunch of also-rans, having gone 22-10 on the season and 12-4 in its league. 

 But still, Richmond?  The first 15-seed to knock off a two-seed.  Even if Syracuse didn’t enter the tournament as a favorite to win it all, there’s no excuse for losing to Richmond with the team that Boeheim had put together.

Finally, there’s Sunday’s Army-Syracuse game.  I won’t go into specifics, but Army was almost deficient to Syracuse in every metric possible.  This wasn’t a great Orange team, but it was still very good.  Army was the Patriot League champions, but the league wasn’t all that good this year.  Everybody knows about Syracuse’s Carrier Dome record in the tournament, and everyone also knows that Syracuse has lost in the first round only once in its history (the formats have changed from year-to-year, so this isn’t entirely accurate, but you get the picture).  Army needed to play an outstanding game to beat Syracuse and they did.  Absolutely heartbreaking.

When push comes to shove, I think the “worst game ever” tag has to go to Richmond-Syracuse.  The point that pushes this home is that Richmond never trailed in that game.  Ever.  For 40 minutes, Richmond never had to play from behind against a very good Syracuse team.  The Orange were able to make it a game, but were thoroughly dominated throughout most of the contest.  That’s what makes the Richmond upset worse than the Army game: Syracuse controlled a bunch of the lacrosse contest, especially at the start.  The Orange just hung around the Richmond game.

 So, that’s that.  And for what its worth, the Army-Syracuse lacrosse game from three days ago is easily the worse defeat in Syracuse lacrosse history.  It’s probably in the annals of overall NCAA upsets as well, but just misses out on surpassing the great disaster of 1991.

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Want to be our next guest commenter?  Easy enough.  Be sure to share your opinions and/or ask future “Ask The Army” questions in the comments section below.  Each week, we’ll ask a reader to offer their opinions on the topic of the week.