Syracuse Basketball: 3 Reasons to Love and 3 to Hate the Move to the ACC

After years of success in college basketball's most prestigious conference, Syracuse will be playing its last year of Big East basketball.

Along with Pittsburgh, the Orange will be moving to the ACC at the beginning of the 2013-2014 campaign. Since becoming a founding member of the Big East in 1979, the Orange have been one of the most dominant teams within the conference, as they have won the conference tournament five times and the regular season crown 10 times.

There are plenty of mixed emotions surrounding the decision to switch conferences, as loyalty seems to be a thing of the past. With every major decision, there are ups and downs.

Despite the sadness and the awe caused by this decision, there are some positives as well. Let's examine the good, the bad and the ugly of this situation. 

Reason to Hate: Loss of Old Rivalries

Over the past 33 years, Syracuse has built numerous rivalries with conference foes.

When they started Big East play in 1980, Syracuse and Georgetown were both ranked in the top 10.

The rivalry officially began when Georgetown snapped Syracuse's 57 home-game winning streak in the last game ever played at Manley Field House.

Syracuse fans' ears are still stinging from when John Thompson muttered the words, "Manley Field House is officially closed". The teams went on to play each other in the conference tournament eight times over the next 10 years, as their constant battle for the premier team in the Big East led to one of the greatest rivalries in college basketball.

Georgetown isn't Syracuse's only rival in the Big East.

Who can forget the famous six-overtime game against UConn in the 2009 Big East tournament? The Big East is so unique in the fact that two teams gave every drop of energy they had to win a quarterfinal matchup.

Not the finals. Not the semifinals. The quarterfinals.

On February 27, 2010, Syracuse set the record for the largest on-campus crowd in the history of college basketball, when more than 34,000 fans filed into the Carrier Dome to see the Orange destroy the Wildcats of Villanova 95-77.

In addition to watching heavyweight teams fight against each other, watching two Hall of Fame coaches go head to head is an exciting element that the Big East always provided. Watching Jim Boeheim coach against Rick Pitino and Jim Calhoun will be another element of Big East play to be extinguished.

Reason to Love: Gain of New Rivalries

While Syracuse will be leaving their old rivalries behind, it will only be a matter of time before they build some friendly hatred toward the powerhouses of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The ACC is indeed a very talented conference, with historic programs like Duke and North Carolina.

In addition, the conference includes talented tams like Maryland, Florida State, Clemson, Miami and NC State.

Syracuse will pose a whole new threat in this conference, as they will force these ACC teams to become accustomed to their deadly 2-3 zone. 

Reason to Hate: Less Time in Madison Square Garden

A Carrier Dome-like atmosphere always presents itself at Madsion Sqaure Garden whenever the Orange are in town.

Due to Syracuse's large alumni population in the New York City area, midtown Manhattan becomes a sea of Orange when 'Cuse come to play. 

Whether it comes in regular season matchups against St. Johns, invitational tournaments or the always-electric Big East tournament, Syracuse has experienced a deal of success at MSG.

Once the Orange move to the ACC, there will be fewer opportunities to play in what Syracuse fans refer to as "the home away from the dome."

Reason to Love: Recruiting

The move to the ACC will turn out to be a recruiting bonus for the Orange.

Due to the fact that the ACC has no other teams closer to New York City than Syracuse; NYC athletes will be more likely to go Orange than to pick a conference competitor.

On top of the NYC athletes, Syracuse will now have a pitch for the talent coming out of Virginia and Washington DC.

The fact that Syracuse will be playing Duke and UNC on national television will give kids coming out of prestigious prep schools such as Oak Hill a reason to choose Syracuse. 

Don't forget the move was instigated by football television exposure. Bettering the football team will also give basketball stars another perk to choose Syracuse. The two programs can thrive of each other, and in turn make Syracuse one of the biggest sport schools in the country. 

Reason to Hate: Causing the Collapse of a Historic Conference

The ACC is indeed a very well-respected conference, and fans shouldn't act like Syracuse is marching off to play in the Sun Belt.

However, if you want to argue that the ACC has been on the same level that the Big East has been for the past decade, you are simply mistaken.

Let me put in perspective just how good the Big East has been over the last 10 years.

Since 2003, The Big East has had eight teams reach the Final Four, the most out of any conference. Three of those teams went on to win the championship, tied for the most of any conference.

In 2011, they had 11 teams reach the NCAA tournament. Since the field expanded to sixty-four teams, there has never been more teams to make the cut from one conference. Last year was considered to be a subpar year for the conference, but eight teams managed to make the field.

There is no shame in playing for the ACC, but the Big East has simply been a breed of its own. With Syracuse, Pittsburgh and West Virginia all leaving, it will be tough to say that a conference will ever have the same dominance that the Big East once had.

This may not be directly hurting Syracuse as a program, but college hoops fans are being deprived of the most exciting conference in its prime. Dismantling the Big East right now is similar to Jordan walking away from basketball in the prime of his career.

Reason to Love: A Chance to Prove Themselves

If I were to ask you to name the three biggest college basketball powerhouses, who would you say?

Kentucky? UNC? Duke? Kansas? UCLA?

While Syracuse may have experienced some degree of success over the past few years, they are not quite on the cusp of being recognized as a "powerhouse."

They have been constantly atop the standings of what is considered the "best" and "deepest" conference in America, yet they are still not associated with college ball in the same way that Duke, UNC, UCLA, Kansas and Kentucky are.

How come? 

Syracuse is constantly scrutinized for having a weak out-of-conference schedule year after year. The excuse that is constantly used for this is that "the Big East is so tough, they don't need talented non-conference matchups to boost their RPI."

Over that past three years, Syracuse has been able to back up this thought process, as they have only suffered 10 losses in the Big East compared to 44 wins.

Many people consider the Big East to be the deepest conference in the nation, but the fact that Syracuse relies on these wins and these wins only to prove their worth is what hurts them in the long run.

Since the 2009-2010 season, they have not won the Big East tournament, nor have they reached the Final Four despite two No. 1 seeds.

There is no doubt that Syracuse is a great team, but they have not been able to prove it to the nation. Outside their conference, they face no one of importance, and they constantly lose in the NCAA tournament. 

Joining a new conference will give Syracuse the opportunity to show the country that they can win no matter what the the environment is. Over the past 30 years, Syracuse has been paired up with Georgetown, UConn, Villanova, etc., but now there is going to be a sudden change.

If they can win like they did in the Big East, they will be talked about more often. Facing new teams will create more attention, and as long as they keep winning, eventually Syracuse will get national recognition.