Article:When does Boeheim start feeling heat?

Syracuse went out with a bang this year, ending their dramatic NCAA Tournament hopes in excruciating fashion, at the barrage of threes from Villanova. But chin up, Orange fans, you guys are almost a lock for the NIT. This marks the 2nd consecutive year that Syracuse has failed to make the NCAA Tournament, and only the second such time in the Jim Boeheim era (the other being '81-'82), when Jim was in his 6th and 7th year at the school.

Now, Boeheim guided Syracuse to the title in the 2002-2003 season on the wings of fabulous freshman Carmello Anthony, but the results since then have been somewhat discouraging. So, the question is, even with his .740 winning percentage in 32 years at the school, when does he get to feel some heat? Continually bringing in top flight talent without achieving top flight results. Just look at the track record after winning the championship in '03, coincidentally the last time they were relevant during the Big East Regular season, the numbers don't lie.

Twice that team tied for 3rd in the Big East, West division, and those years were consecutive after winning the championship, and after that it's a downright spiral: 9th, 5th, and 9th. In fact, barring a miraculous run in the Big East Tournament in '06, they would have missed the NCAA Tourney berth three consecutive years. Hell, they wouldn't have won one fucking game! Granted, they were kind of robbed last year. But that doesn't excuse finishing at the bottom half of your division three years in a row. It seems that expectations were lowered so much, that students stormed the floor after a win over not-that-highly-ranked Georgetown last year.

The man is a Hall of Famer (2005), brought a championship to the school, is an alum, but shouldn't he start getting the Joe Paterno treatment here in the next couple of years if this trend continues? When you go to Syracuse, all you've got to boast about is that hiney-toucher Tirico and your basketball achievements; certainly not football since the 44's were retired.

It seems they figured out "the Zone" Jimmy B, so it's move up, or move out. Syracuse loses to Villanova [ESPN] Syracuse basketball results [Wiki] Jim Boeheim [Wiki]