Normally, this is about the time of year Syracuse men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim starts hearing criticism about scheduling weak non-conference opponents. Aside from a November tournament in New York City, it’s been his tradition in recent seasons to rack up wins against no-name teams at the Carrier Dome before Big East season begins.

At first glance, this year’s schedule followed the script. But the non-conference opponents visiting Upstate New York this fall are a considerable upgrade from those in previous years. Coincidentally, an inexperienced Orange team with four basically new starters is facing unforeseen trouble.

Saturday’s game against Texas Christian at 7 p.m. in the Carrier Dome represents another challenge from a mid-major program. Though the Horned Frogs (1-4) are struggling this season, they are coming off their best season in seven years, winning 21 games and advancing to the quarterfinals of the NIT.

Syracuse (5-2) has already been stunned by Bucknell, 74-69, on Nov. 22 and needed a frantic comeback at the end of regulation to pull out an overtime, 87-82 win against Manhattan on Wednesday. The Orange didn’t look particularly sharp against Cornell on Nov. 9 either, winning 67-62.

On more than one occasion this season, Boeheim has flat-out said his team didn’t deserve to win a game it did.

‘We really shouldn’t be here in New York,’ Boeheim said after Syracuse defeated Texas Tech, 81-46, in the semifinals of the Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament. ‘Cornell should be here because we missed 18 straight shots from the 3-point line.’

Wednesday night’s press conference had a similar refrain: ‘I thought we were obviously very fortunate to win,’ were Boeheim’s first words.

But Boeheim asked for this challenge. This year’s opponents are in the mold of Vermont, who defeated Syracuse in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year. That same night, No. 14 seed Bucknell shocked No. 3 seed Kansas. Manhattan upset Florida in the first round of 2004’s tournament.

Non-conference opponents still to come this season include Texas El-Paso, which went to the NCAA Tournament last year, and two other schools that made the Big Dance recently – Davidson and Illinois-Chicago. Syracuse doesn’t normally see opponents of this caliber this early. Two losses in non-conference play are already the most for the Orange since the 2001-02 season.

‘This non-conference (schedule) is 10 times better than any other one,’ assistant coach Mike Hopkins said. ‘You’ve got teams that went to the NCAA Tournament. These guys can beat anybody in college basketball.’

The only close game against a mid-major last year was a five-point win over Hofstra. Syracuse defeated all the other mid-majors on its schedule by more than 10 points.

Then again, last year’s version of the Orange featured five returning starters. The team didn’t need to spend the first two months gelling and was ranked in the top 10 for almost the entire season.

But the year Boeheim finally increases the difficulty of the schedule is the year Syracuse will take weeks to discern its identity. Several pressing issues include the surprisingly soft defense and the uncertainty surrounding the second starting guard position. The team has yet to play consistently for an entire game.

‘We’ll look like one of the best teams in the country for 10 or 15 minutes, and then we shut it down,’ guard Gerry McNamara said after Wednesday’s win. ‘You’re not going to win games like that and we realize that. We have to turn around, and I think Coach has tried to say that to us a couple of times, but we continue to do it. Hopefully this game will be a wake-up call for us.’

But that is a familiar phrase as well. Other players hoped previous close calls would result in better performances but that has yet to be the case. Regardless, since the non-conference foes visiting the Dome this season are stronger than those in years past, Syracuse may not have the easy road through November and December it’s come to know.

‘They might be mid-majors, but they are big-time mid-majors,’ McNamara said. ‘These teams are good teams and people that criticize (Boeheim) don’t usually know what they’re talking about.

‘These are good teams and they prepare you for what you are about to face in league play. Some teams are Princeton-style (motion offense), other teams get it inside. That’s what you see in the Big East – a little bit of everything.’

Published on December 1, 2005 at 12:00 pm