The Syracuse men’s soccer team practices one day and then lifts weights the following day. It’s become the pattern for the squad since last playing in a 3-2 overtime win over Louisville and SU missed the Big East tournament for the third straight year.

But the Big East was not the end-all and the team is preparing accordingly. By finishing with a 8-6-3 record and 4-6-1 in the conference, the men’s soccer team is still alive and in consideration for a bid to the NCAA tournament. The tournament field of 48 will be selected Monday and the Orange is hoping it did enough work in the regular season to get into the big dance.

‘What we set out for at the beginning of the season was to get into the NCAA tournament,’ SU head coach Dean Foti said. ‘This is the spot we wanted to be in, so we’re happy to be here. It’s going to depend on a lot of things, and you can’t really predict these things.’

Twenty-two teams make the NCAA tournament based on automatic bids, leaving 26 spots for ‘at-large’ teams. Most conference tournaments (such as the Big East) have its championships this weekend, making it hard to prognosticate the team’s future until the weekend is over. For now, the Orange has to try and make a case of what it accomplished in the regular season.

The team’s RPI is 37, the sixth-highest rank in the Big East. Of the five teams ahead of the Orange from the Big East, the Orange tied South Florida and beat Louisville. Just like in basketball, RPI is only an indicator of where the team generally fits into the national scene, but is not the determining factor in whether a team makes the NCAA tournament. The Orange also finished with an overall record above .500 and played in the Big East, which regarded the top conference in the land.

Still, the Orange missed the Big East tournament and lost games to Rutgers (6-9-3), Cincinnati (7-10-2) and Villanova (7-10-2).

Foti believes missing the Big East tournament should not hurt his team’s chances of getting into the primary postseason tournament.

‘It’s not a qualification, it’s not a requirement to get in the NCAA tournament,’ Foti said. ‘When you examine the numbers, there were three or four teams that had the same amount or less points than us but made the Big East tournament. To get into the top six teams in our division was greater than it was in the other division.’

Foti also pointed to the uneven scheduling in the Big East. The Orange had to play four games against teams in the Big East Blue Division – Notre Dame (No. 1 in division), Connecticut (No. 2), Providence (No. 4) and Marquette (No. 8).

While the team will not have an organized meeting Monday to see which teams are selected on ESPNews, the anticipation builds until that moment. The Orange will find out if its last two weeks of practice were for naught, or for the program’s second NCAA bid and first since 1984. The team is certainly prepared.

‘It’s (the team’s morale) been great,’ Foti said. ‘This is (what) one of the goals we set out early in the season was – to get an NCAA bid, and we’re in position to be there. Things need to go our way to get in.’

mrehalt@syr.edu

Published on November 13, 2008 at 12:00 pm