The last two weeks at Syracuse have bled orange, and that spirit led SU through to this weekend – both Syracuse’s Men’s and Women’s Basketball Teams have simultaneously made it to the Final Four for the first time. Never before have I trod on crushed glass in the back of a parking lot with the risk of beer falling from the skies in celebration of ‘Cuse pride. I can now confirm: ‘Cuse does pregame harder than you party, and beer doesn’t fall from the skies, just from the hands of alarmingly tall people.

This weekend is going to slice open all the emotions that have been gathering for a rendezvous after a weeklong wait for Final Four weekend. As the Syracuse women face Washington and the Orange Men face North Carolina, Pulp decided to get a read of what the Syracuse population was gearing up for this weekend:

1. Michael Gbinije will be the top-scorer

Erin Hamilton, a freshman International Relations major, is placing her confidence in this forward. Considering that he has scored in double figures consistently, this is a safe bet to make.

2. A Syracuse Women victory and a time-sensitive game for the Men

Confident that the Syracuse Women’s team, a fourth seed team, can beat a seventh seed team, Julie Kosic, a sophomore Health and Exercise Science major, thinks that the last eight minutes of the game will be the decider for the Men’s game.

3. “We’re gonna lose”

Ed Delacruz, a freshman Computer Engineering major, going by logic, points out that UNC beat the Syracuse team both times in the regular season, and UNC wouldn’t make the mistake of giving up a lead.

4. “Well, UNC is the top in the league…”

The worrisome statistics can turn the chances of an Orange victory slightly paler. That’s something Annie Levine, a freshman Inclusive and Special Education major and Michelle Arotsky, a freshman Musical Theatre major are concerned about this weekend.

5. Trust the guard

Pulkit Jain, a first year graduate student studying information management in the iSchool, believes Trevor Cooney has a penchant for getting us out of sticky spots, and his good game can spell a Syracuse win.

6. Advantage to the women – and to Lydon

Declaring loudly to her friends that she was naming Tyler Lydon the top-scorer for the weekend, Kathyrn Miller, a sophomore Policy Studies and Citizen and Civic Engagement major, proceeded to give the women’s team the advantage this weekend.

7. Overtime, here we come

A big believer in letting a million emotions break out like the plague, Kyle Turchick, a junior Environmental Science major, thinks and hopes that the teams go into overtime, you know, just so the anxiety can fall off the scale.

8. “I’m not engaging in treason.”

Insisting that she would be a traitor if she said otherwise, Kelsey Olivia Fowler, a junior Political Science and Geography major, trusts that there will be a double Orange victory for the men’s and women’s teams this weekend.

9. Tense scoreboard

Kamm Lemay, a senior Mathematics and Psychology major, provides us these intricate details: the men will start with a slight lead, which will fall by halftime, only to make a spectacular comeback in the last seconds. He trusts that the women will maintain a steady difference and emerge victorious.

10. Differing score differences

Charity Purchase is all about the score differences. This DPS officer and SU alum thinks it will be a tight score difference for the men and a five-point or higher score difference for the women, advantage to Syracuse.

All I can say to the weekend is, “don’t test me” and wish both teams the very best of luck. But no matter what, as Onondaga Community College student Norah Stevens said, “win or lose, we booze,” a long-standing requirement at Castle Court.

Published on April 2, 2016 at 5:34 pm

Contact: dmurthy@syr.edu