Syracuse-Oklahoma: First Meeting Since Fateful '03

ESPN commentators predicted on Wednesday night that out of the three seeds left in the 2009 NCAA Tournament, Syracuse would be the one most likely to cut down the nets after the final game, but it will be no easy road to get there.

Their next roadblock comes on March 27, when they play Blake Griffin and the second-seeded Oklahoma Sooners.

This will be the first Syracuse-Oklahoma match up since the 2003 East Regional finals, when Syracuse was on the way to the National Championship.

The Sooners rely heavily on the scoring of Griffin, a 6'10" center who loves to bang inside and load up the highlight reels with power dunks. Syracuse leads Dancing teams in shot percentages, came into the tournament as the highest scoring team in the Big East Conference and is a threat on defense with Arinze Onuaku playing forward.

According to Lesley Visser of CBS Sports, 'Cuse coach, Jim Boeheim, has spent years polishing his trademark 2-3 zone defense. Other coaches use it as a change-up to their man-to-man, but Syracuse has used it as the primary option for more than 30-years.

When they wrought havoc against Memphis and Kansas this season, the Orange showed why their defense is so strong.

Against Kansas in November, Syracuse went man-to-man against the defending national champions. Trailing by 13-points in the second half, the Orange switched defenses, created three consecutive turnovers, and eventually won 89-81, in overtime.

In order to advance to the Elite Eight, however, Syracuse has to beat Oklahoma by containing Griffin.

The Orange have the talent to make things interesting with Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson, who have the bulk and athleticism, but there is no question that Blake is the best player in college basketball this season.

He had 28-points and 13 rebounds against Morgan State, shooting 11-for-12 from the field and in the second round against Michigan, Griffin had 33 and 17.

"We’ve played great teams, but we haven’t played against any player like Blake Griffin," Boeheim said in an interview with Post Standard reporters.

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