The No. 4-ranked Syracuse Orange beat the AP polls No. 25-ranked Cincinnati Bearcats Saturday, 67-52, to remaining one of the four unbeaten teams in the nation — No. 2 Ohio St. Buckeyes, No. 3 Kansas Jayhawks and No. 6 San Diego St. Aztecs are the other three.
Syracuse's 18-0 record is the second-best start in program history -- the 1999-'00 squad started 19-0.
On Saturday, the Buckeyes (18-0) edged the Penn St. Nittany Lions, 69-66; the Jayhawks (17-0) squeaked past the Nebraska Cornhuskers, 63-60; and the Aztecs (19-0) defeated the New Mexico Lobos, 87-77.
Syracuse travels to the No. 5 Pittsburgh Panthers for a ESPN’s Big Monday showdown, then hosts No. 7 Villanova Wildcats on Saturday (noon on ESPN). The odds of the Orange (18-0, 5-0 Big East) holding onto that unblemished record past next week seems very slim.
This week, Ohio St. host the Iowa Hawkeyes (7-9) Wednesday then is at No. 16 the Illinois Fighting Illini (13-5). Kansas travels to the Bayor Bears (12-4) Wednesday then host No. 14 Texas Longhorns (14-3) Saturday. San Diego St. is at the Air Force Falcons (10-6) on Wednesday.
So, the question asked is: Who’s going to be the last undefeated team in Division I?