Syracuse Off to an Orange-Hot Start

Sorry for the headline, it's awful. So awful it's good.....or not. Now, on to the regularly scheduled post. Syracuse played the Maine Black Bears Saturday and to say the game was a blow out would be an understatement. The Orange won 101-55. Mark Mangino versus an all you can eat buffet would have been more competitive. The Orange lead 60-12 at halftime. Custer kept it closer than that at Little Big Horn.

The Orange are playing so well right now, doing any observations on the game would be pointless. We know Wes Johnson is great, Andy Rautins has evolved into the most well rounded player on the team, and the zone defense is smothering.

The Orange are off to one of the best starts in recent years. They've been dominating and the stats back up what we are all witnessing with our own eyes. Consider these numbers for a minute:

* The Orange are 8-0, and the smallest margin of victory has been 15 points, against Cornell.

* They have won 5 of those games by 25 or more points, and three games by more than 30 points.

* Jim Boeheim has traditionally used a short bench. So far this year, no player is averaging 30 minutes per game, and 9 guys are averaging more than 10 minutes per game.

* The Orange are third in the nation in scoring, first in field goal percentage, and 9th in made 3 point field goals.

Syracuse is dominating weaker opponents -- but when you compare how these opponents have fared against SU's Big East brethren, Syracuse is even more impressive.

* Syracuse beat Colgate by 42, UConnbeat them by 14. Rutgers trailed Colgate at half, and eeked out a 9 point win.

* Syracuse beat Columbia by 25, DePaul beat them by 6.

* Syracuse beat Cornell by 15. Seton Hall won by 10.

So sure it's early, but any way you cut it, the Orange are off to a dominating start. We're looking forward to the Florida game on Thursday, it should be fun.