The possibility was first broached at practice Saturday. Syracuse could play Vermont, could play the team that broke its heart just five years ago.

 

And the mere mention of Vermont enraged player-turned-graduate assistant Gerry McNamara.

 

‘He actually has a nasty taste in his mouth,’ sophomore Kris Joseph said. ‘I can understand why. It’s revenge time. I wasn’t around but I could feel how angry Gerry was.’

 

This weekend, the Orange can exorcize its demons. On Sunday, Syracuse (28-4) earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a first-round date with No. 16 Vermont (25-9). In the 2005 first round, Syracuse lost in heart-wrenching fashion to the Catamounts, 60-57. The two teams will meet Friday at 9:30 p.m. in Buffalo, N.Y. If it were to beat Vermont — no No. 1 has ever lost to a No. 16 — then Syracuse plays the winner of Gonzaga and Florida State in the second round.

 

‘This team has worked really hard and been consistent all year,’ SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘We’re excited to be a No. 1 seed. Obviously the Tournament is going to be challenging. There aren’t any easy games anymore.’

 

Boeheim said he caught about a half-hour of Vermont’s win over Boston in the America East championship game.

 

‘I thought they played extremely well,’ he said. ‘It’ll be a challenge right off the bat.’

 

The top seed comes with a smidge of disappointment. Duke surprisingly was slotted as the third-best No. 1 seed ahead of Syracuse, which will force SU to the Salt Lake City region. Kentucky and Kansas, as expected, earned the other No. 1 seeds.

 

This is only Syracuse’s second No. 1 seed ever. In 1980, the top-seeded Orange lost to Iowa in the second round, 88-77.

 

For the past few days, Syracuse has been on edge. Whereas the other No. 1’s marched to conference tournament titles, the Orange was eliminated in the Big East Tournament Quarterfinal. The loss to Georgetown coupled with a scary knee injury to Arinze Onuaku appeared to dent SU’s hopes at a top seed. Syracuse was able to hang onto its presumed No. 1 seed, but the committee’s decision to bump it behind Duke may have reflected such paranoia. Onuaku’s status remains up in the air for this weekend.

 

Senior Andy Rautins has been around too long to nitpick. Recalling Syracuse’s snub his sophomore year, Rautins assured the Orange will take this No. 1 seed and run. A 28-4 overall record and Big East regular-season title was enough ammo.

 

‘It felt good to hear our names being called as the No. 1 seed,’ senior Andy Rautins said. ‘Our body of work put us in great position for this tournament.’

 

There’s an unusual amount of intrigue packed into this 1/16 opener. Aside from the revenge factor, it’s also spiked with a sibling rivalry. Kris Joseph’s brother, Maurice, is Vermont’s second-leading scorer. As soon as he saw the ‘V’ on his television screen, Joseph called his brother. All he heard was loud screaming. Pandemonium on both sides — Syracuse and Vermont — erupted over the irony.

 

‘I called him right away and let him know, ‘There aren’t going to be any miracles happening here buddy,” Joseph said.

 

With the Catamounts, Maurice Joseph is averaging 14.1 points per game. The senior transferred to Vermont after two years in Michigan State. They never dreamt of this matchup but as Selection Sunday neared closer, Kris had a feeling they might finally play each other. The last time the Josephs faced each other in a game, was during a club league game in Montreal. Kris was 8 years old. Maurice was 11. And the only reason they faced each other was because Kris got bumped up a class.

 

Kris remembers the game vividly. His team was crushed.

 

‘It stuck in my mind,’ Joseph said. ‘Since he was at Michigan State, I wondered if we’d ever play each other in college on national TV.’

 

For this one, Joseph promised to tip Rautins off on all of his brother’s go-to moves — the ‘left-foot jab, pull-up right’ is one of Maurice’s favorites. In the Big Dance, it’s on.

 

And for Rautins, he couldn’t have picked a better first-round matchup. He remembers that ’05 upset all too well. It was painful. Seeing his future team lose like that stung. The memory hasn’t fully faded.

 

This year, he hopes to make amends.

 

‘I took it to heart,’ Rautins said. ‘Once we saw Vermont was our draw it lit a fire under us a little bit.’