Jim Boeheim had been campaigning hard for his Syracuse team in the leadup to Selection Sunday, and he had the last laugh after they defeated Dayton on Friday.
Boeheim blasted his team’s critics, saying that those who felt his team didn’t deserve their bid know nothing about basketball.
“Nobody that said we didn’t deserve to be in obviously doesn’t know anything about basketball,” Boeheim said, via Eye on College Basketball’s Chip Patterson. “So we didn’t think about it. They were just doing it to be cute and that’s — we don’t need to react to those things. And these guys don’t listen to that stuff.
“We think we can play with anybody,” Boeheim continued. “We don’t look at it as we’re an underdog or whatever. We just think if we can play and play the way we are capable, that we can beat anybody. And I think that’s college basketball. I think that’s the way you should think.”
Boeheim was suspended for part of the season and Syracuse struggled without him, which was a big part of his sales pitch. They beat Dayton convincingly, so maybe Boeheim was onto something – and now, with Michigan State’s shock loss, they have a nice little path towards a surprise Sweet Sixteen spot.
