The Syracuse basketball program beat the Connecticut Huskies and the South Florida Bulls last week. The two victories seemed to have righted a rocking ship -- that had dropped four consecutive games the two previous weeks -- and allowed the nation's Bracketologists to regain confidence in the Orange (20-4, 7-4 Big East). Currently, out of six websites, SU is either earning a No. 3 or No. 4 seed in the latest 68-team NCAA Tournament fields, which were released Monday and Tuesday.
According to SB Nation's Chris Dobbertean (posted Tuesday), Bracketology 101 (Monday), SI.com's Andy Glockner (Monday) and FoxSports.com's Jordan Schwartz (Tuesday), the Orange deserve a No. 3 seed. However, ESPN's Joe Lunardi (Monday) and CBSSports.com's Jerry Palm (Tuesday) have SU seeded No. 4.
The St. John's Red Storm (13-9, 5-5) are seeded as high as No. 8; and as low as No. 12. The Pittsburgh Panthers (22-2, 10-1) are a unanimous No. 1 seed -- as were: Ohio St. Buckeyes, Kansas Jayhawks and Texas Longhorns. Most Bracketologist have the Big East Conference earning 11 teams into the tournament. Here's the breakdown of the Big East Conference:
ESPN's Lunardi (11 teams): Pitt (No. 1 seed), Notre Dame Fighting Irish (2), Villanova Wildcats (3), Georgetown Hoyas (3), UConn (3), Syracuse (4), Louisville Cardinals (4), West Virginia Mountaineers (6), Marquette Golden Eagles (8), Cincinnati Bearcats (9) and St. John's (10).
SB Nation's Dobbertean (11): Pitt (1), UConn (2), Georgetown (3), Syracuse (3), 'Nova (3), ND (3), Louisville (5), WVU (5), Marquette (9), Cincy (9) and St. John's (12).
Bracketology 101 (11): Pitt (1), ND (2), UConn (2), Georgetown (3), 'Nova (3), Syracuse (3), Louisville (4), WVU (5), St. John's (9), Cincy (9) and Marquette (10).
SI.com's Glockner (11): Pitt (1), UConn (2), Georgetown (2), Syracuse (3), ND (3), 'Nova (3), Louisville (4), WVU (4), St. John's (9), Cincy (10) and Marquette (10).
FoxSports.com's Schwartz (11): Pitt (1), ND (2), Syracuse (3), 'Nova (3), UConn (3), Georgetown (3), Louisville (4), WVU (7), St. John's (8), Cincy (9) and Marquette (12).
CBSSports.com's Palm (10): Pitt (1), ND (2), UConn (3), Georgetown (3), 'Nova (3), Syracuse (4), Louisville (5), Cincy (7), WVU (7) and St. John's (8).