No. 3 seed Syracuse (25-8, 11-5 Atlantic Coast) moved onto the Round of 32 in the NCAA tournament with a 70-49 win over Fordham on Saturday afternoon. The Orange will now face South Dakota State (27-6, 15-1 Summit League) on Monday at 7 p.m.  The No. 6-seeded Jackrabbits beat No. 11 Quinnipiac. 76-65, in the Carrier Dome before SU faced the Rams.

Here’s what our beat writers predict for the matchup.  

Nick Alvarez
Rabbit season
Syracuse 76, South Dakota State 57

At points during Saturday’s win, Syracuse showed the team it could be. Its dominant second quarter reminded some of the last time the Orange hosted the NCAA tournament and streaked to the Final Four. I don’t know if I’m ready to change my tournament-prediction — an eventual SU loss in the Sweet 16 to Oregon – but Syracuse will still dispatch of South Dakota State with relative ease.  

Eric Black
Jacked up
Syracuse 81, South Dakota State 75

If Syracuse wasn’t playing at home, I’d be picking South Dakota State in this one. The Jackrabbits haven’t lost since Jan. 6 and just dropped 76 points on the second-best defense in the country. They’re really good — better than most people likely think they are — and will be far from a pushover for SU. If the Orange take SDSU lightly, they could be in trouble. Syracuse showed flashes of greatness against Fordham, but it’ll need a full four-quarter effort to get to the Sweet 16. I think SU puts it together against the Jackrabbits in a close, high-scoring game and wins for the last time all season.

Michael McCleary  
Jackrabbits aren’t bunnies
Syracuse 77, South Dakota State 72

Syracuse is good. Saturday proved that, again. Syracuse is also good enough to advance to the Sweet 16. It’s proved that all season long with how its handled teams in a lower tier of the bracket than the Orange are at. But South Dakota State is not a team that SU should underestimate. It has the top scorer in its conferences history in Macy Miller, and she’s proven she could score at the high level against practically any opponent. SDSU has won the Summit league championship in four of the last five years, and the only year they didn’t Miller was recovering from a torn right ACL. They brought then-No. 4 Stanford down to the wire in the 2016 tournament, and their improved roster this season should give Syracuse a problem. But they’re a problem SU, once again, will prove its ready for.

Published on March 25, 2019 at 2:01 am