The last time Syracuse faced a Top 10 team while unranked, its absence from the Associated Press Top 25 seemed like a mistake.

The only unranked squad to make the semifinals of the 2009 2K Sports Classic, the Orange beat No. 13 California on Nov. 19 before winning the tune-up tournament over No. 6 North Carolina the next night. SU used a 22-1 second-half run and 25 points from Wesley Johnson to best the Tar Heels, and catapulted to No. 10 in the country three days later.

Now — five years and one month later — the Orange (6-3) will face No. 7 Villanova (10-0) at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Saturday, and the situation is far different. SU head coach Jim Boeheim said the Orange is “not anywhere near a good basketball team” after a narrow win over Louisiana Tech on Saturday, and a date with its former Big East rival comes at a crucial point of its early season.

Syracuse has turned in solid results against Top 10 teams in the five seasons since that UNC win, but will be an unfamiliarly substantial underdog come Saturday.

The numbers

Here are statistics for all of Syracuse’s regular-season games against Top 10 teams since the start of the 2009-10 season.

Record: 11-5

*Home record: 6-2

Away record: 5-3

Average opponent rank: 7.1

Average Syracuse rank (not including unranked game): 6.5

Average margin of victory (11 games): 10.2

Average margin of defeat (5 games): 10.4

*Games at Madison Square Garden are counted as Syracuse home games

If you take away the 2009-10 season, Syracuse is 5-5 against Top 10 teams in the last four years. But after beating North Carolina in November the Orange finished 6-0 against Top 10 opponents that season, with wins over No. 10 Florida, No. 10 West Virginia, No. 7 Georgetown, No. 10 Georgetown and No. 7 Villanova.

Against the Wildcats

Syracuse welcomed No. 8 Villanova into the Carrier Dome last season and won 78-62 to improve to 12-0 amid its 25-0 start. In the last five years, the Wildcats have been a Top 10 team for three of the teams’ meetings, and Syracuse is 2-1 with an 83-72 loss to a No. 7 Villanova team in the 2010-11 season.

But SU was also ranked in the Top 10 for all of those games, and heads into Saturday without a rankings vote, much less a spot in the Top 25. And on top of that, Villanova’s balanced offense and in-your-face defense don’t bode well for the Orange.

SU committed 17 turnovers — eight by freshman point guard Kaleb Joseph — in its win over Louisiana Tech. The Wildcats have a +5 turnover margin on the season, which is tied for 15th in the country.

The Orange has been carved up by opposing guards in recent games. Villanova is led in scoring by three guards in Dylan Ennis, Darrun Hilliard II and Josh Hart, who average 12.3, 11.6 and 10.1 points per game, respectively. Ennis also shoots 46 percent from 3 while Hart is at 40 percent from long range.

So while Syracuse has fared relatively well against Top 10 teams in the five years since it last faced one unranked, this matchup promises to be a particularly tough one.

After all, the Orange is not anywhere near a good basketball team.

And frankly, Villanova is every bit of one.

Published on December 17, 2014 at 5:21 am

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse