The bad news is Syracuse played the game the way Georgetown wanted it to be played. The good news is they won. The bad news is they still have a serious rebounding problem. The good news is...still the same...they won. It wasn't pretty but that ugliness gets swept under the rug with a win against their arch rival.

Georgetown slowed the pace down and made Syracuse work in the half court set. They limited the Orange on the glass and held them to under 35-percent shooting. That's a recipe for a Georgetown win. But Syracuse was no slouch on defense either. Combine that with their offenses looking as ugly as those neon yellow laces the Hoyas were wearing and if you were colorblind you would've thought this was a game between Wisconsin and Illinois (you could really pick any two Big Ten teams).

Continue to No Style Points for Syracuse

With the Super Bowl today in Indianapolis, this whole week has largely focused on one quarterback in particular: Peyton Manning. He's not playing in the Super Bowl and he didn't even suit up this season and yet the focus was on his future with the Colts. In Syracuse circles it was Fab Melo's future that has been the big question mark in recent weeks.

So what else do these two athletes have in common? Well, during this year there have been a few columnists that have brought up the idea that perhaps Peyton Manning should be the MVP because his team went from going 10-6 last season with Manning to a league-worst 2-14 this year without him. It's an absurd idea and those that brought it up were certainly doing it just to garner attention but Peyton's absence clearly demonstrated just how important he was to the Colts. Similarly, Fab's 3-game absence and subsequent return has shown just how valuable he is to the Orange. On a team with so much talent there has been a lively debate about who exactly is the Orange's MVP and Melo's name would definitely be in that discussion. But what appears obvious now is that he's the player the Orange can least afford to lose.

Continue to Melo Makes Immediate Impact in His Return

It might have been the most important win of the season but the Orange's performance wasn't exactly impressive. Their effort was impressive but the overall play was not. But Syracuse showed its character by bouncing back after its first loss of the season to take down a very strong Cincinnati team in a hostile environment.

It looked like it might be a repeat performance of Saturday night as the Bearcats shot lights out early just as Notre Dame had. Cincy nailed four of their first five 3-pointers and each seemed deeper than the last. Cashmere Wright nailed three in a row. But the Orange adjusted and got out on those shooters extending to NBA range. Cincinnati didn't get nearly as many clean looks the rest of the way and as a result they hit just 4 of their final 20 attempts from deep.

Continue to Most Important Win of the Season for the Orange

One of the biggest knocks on Syracuse all season is their lack of a go-to guy. While Fab Melo certainly doesn't fit that bill, he might just be the Orange's most irreplaceable player. Melo didn't travel with the team, reportedly due to academic issues and his absence proved costly as Syracuse's undefeated season came to an end Saturday night.

The game got off to a poor start from the very beginning. Scoop Jardine missed a layup off the opening tip and then Notre Dame freshman Pat Connaughton knocked down a 3-pointer on the other end. This would be a theme throughout the first half. The Orange struggled on offense, shooting under 30-percent in the first half and the Irish were knocking down the deep shots.

Continue to Syracuse Fails to Overcome Melo's Absence

Could it even be considered a trap game? Syracuse facing Pitt a trap game? Pittsburgh had won five straight at the Dome and eight of nine against the Orange. And yet, the Panthers came into the game losers of six straight and were winless in conference play. So yeah, it could've been considered a trap game. But the Orange didn't fall for it and exploded out to a 13-0 lead before hanging on to win 71-63.

It was the Orange's defense that helped them take a commanding lead, one they would never relinquish. The Orange had 8 steals and 11 blocks and held Pitt to under 40-percent shooting and under 33-percent in the first half. The run was also the result of excellent ball movement. Syracuse assisted on six of its first seven field goals on route to a 15-2 lead.

SU's depth was a factor yet again, this time allowing them to swarm Pitt with a full court press. The Orange pressed five times and forced Pitt to turn it over four times and miss a 3-pointer.

Continue to Syracuse Avoids the Trap

The majority of college basketball pundits and fans believe Syracuse is the top team in the nation. The case for the Orange being the top seed is pretty obvious. They are at the top of the Sagarin Rankings, have the third toughest SOS and of course, are undefeated. But there's still a small minority that don't quite give Syracuse the respect it deserves. And sometimes I completely understand that.

Aside from no one being able to watch every single college basketball game and thus, the AP and Coaches' polls are fairly meaningless, Syracuse is deceptively good. It's been hammered into the ground already but part of the perception has to do with the lack of a star. Actually, let me correct that: The lack of a known star.

Continue to Why Syracuse Has Its Doubters

It seems like every game there's about a 5-8 minute stretch where Syracuse separates itself from its opponent. These teams hang around for a while but all of a sudden you look up and the Orange are up by 20. It happened against last night against Villanova. The game was tied at 14 and then 7 minutes later it was 34-16. Syracuse has a serious case of the runs.

Here's a look at the Orange's runs in each of the last 6 games:

Continue to Syracuse Has a Case of the Runs

Expectations for the Orange are high. They are the top team in the nation, undefeated and, for the most part, have been blowing out the opposition. A home game against Marquette is one they are supposed to win. But Saturday showed that Big East play has started and 'supposed to win' doesn't mean much. Connecticut, Louisville and Georgetown were all supposed to win on Saturday but they didn't. Syracuse, meanwhile took care of business. It might not have been pretty and they might have gotten a little help from the Golden Eagles' ice cold 3-point shooting but it was a big win in the Big East.

Marquette is a tough matchup for Syracuse. They are one of the very few teams that actually might be more athletic than the Orange. They had no problem getting to the rim and if their shots had been falling from the outside this easily could've been the first loss of the season.

The Golden Eagles played tremendous defense. They always seemed to put pressure on the ball and didn't give up anything easy. Syracuse is one of the tops in the nation in steals and Marquette actually bested them in that category, 11-9. They held Syracuse to under 40-percent from the field but it wasn't all because of the defense. C.J. Fair among other missed a few point-blank layups that could've increased that percentage.

Syracuse suffered from some early turnovers but Marquette was willing to give it right back. The Golden Eagles had 12 turnovers in the first half and Fab Melo was responsible for four of those. The big man stepped in to take four charges in the first 8 minutes (he has to lead the nation in drawn charges, right?).

Continue to Orange Take Control of Big East

I had almost forgot what a close game felt like. Syracuse hadn't had a game this tight in about a month and even that Marshall game was well in hand before the Thundering Herd went on a late but irrelevant run. Syracuse led by just 2 points at the half but was just too good for the Friars after the break and cruised to a 87-73 victory to improve to 15-0.

Providence executed a good game plan last night. They pushed the ball in transition when they had the opportunity but slowed it down in the halfcourt and methodically attacked the 2-3 zone. They attacked from the middle with many buckets starting from the free throw line. Kadeem Batts was particularly effective at that spot, knocking down a couple jumpers and driving to the bucket another time. Their guards would slash through the middle and either work their way in for a close range shot/layup or kick it out for a few good 3-point looks.

They exposed the weaknesses of the zone but the Orange also helped them in the process. The Friars shot 49-percent from the field and 46-percent from deep because of Syracuse's lackluster efforts. It's not that they played particularly bad but they certainly did not play well. With Baye Keita out, it was up to Fab Melo and Rakeem Christmas to man the center spot. Rak fouled out with 9:04 to go and Melo was limited due to foul trouble as well. The two got into foul trouble because of bad defensive positioning. Multiple times they were caught leaning instead of keeping their hands straight up and that's what allowed Providence to shoot 28 free throws. The Orange actually had to put C.J. Fair in at the 5 spot because Christmas was out and Melo had 4 fouls.

Continue to Orange Defense Takes Night Off While Offense Takes Over

Syracuse had an easy time against DePaul last night. It wasn't quite the 107-59 beat down from last year but it also wasn't the 59-57 nail biter from the year before that. It was a solid win as the Orange improve to 15-0 and will remain No. 1 in the polls.

The Blue Demons pressed nearly the entire game and while that might not seem like a good idea against a team with veteran guards and a deep bench, if you saw DePaul's offense you'd understand. DePaul shot 31-percent in the first half but did manage a few buckets off of turnovers. They had no answer for the 2-3 zone, hitting on just 3-of-18 3-pointers and having trouble scoring inside with Fab Melo swatting away 5 blocks.

Speaking of Melo he experienced another first in his SU career. Against Seton Hall he set a Syracuse record with 10 blocks and had a career-high 12 points. He had another solid game with 12 points (on 6-of-7 shooting), 6 rebounds and 5 blocks. But the first I'm talking about came when he subbed out of the game with 4:08 remaining. He had just swatted a shot off the backboard that led to a Scoop Jardine layup and while he was heading to the bench Jim Boeheim actually smiled at him. And this wasn't a typical sarcastic Boeheim smile. This was a 'you done good' smile. What a difference a year makes.

Continue to Syracuse Keeps Rolling