Time to Shine for Syracuse: Orange Looking for First Title Since '03 Season

It's been almost seven years since Carmelo Anthony and Gerry McNamara carried Syracuse to the school's first National Championship. And now a new cast of players who don the bright orange jerseys will look to bring the school to the promise land once again.

Wes Johnson is the most recognized name of Jim Boeheim's bunch, but, as he puts it, this team has "seven starters." No, Jimmy B's squad won't be playing seven on five, Thursday, when they open Big East Tournament play, but he will have seven guys to choose from that could start on almost any team in the country. 

A team that came in unranked in the AP Poll and 25th in the Coaches Poll has become a team that is one of the favorites to reach the Final Four. After losing three starters from last year's team and star point guard Jonny Flynn to the NBA many felt that the Orange were headed for a down year. 

Then came an inexcusable, mindboggling exhibition loss to LeMoyne College, 82-79. The loss to LeMoyne all but confirmed that Syracuse was in for a rough season. I mean how could a team lose to a Division II school and expect to compete in the vaunted Big East?

As a society we tend to lose perspective and become "prisoners of the moment" as ESPN's Skip Bayless likes to say. Same could be said for the game against LeMoyne, which was after all just an exhibition game.

The Orange splashed onto the national scene with a pair of back-to-back beat downs of Cal and North Carolina—which at the time appeared to be two top teams as Cal was ranked 12th and North Carolina fourth—and quickly erased the memory of LeMoyne. Looking back on those wins they have taken a hit as both teams are currently unranked and haven't lived up to preseason expectations.

Now, after one of the programs most successful seasons in school history Syracuse will look to top it off by cutting down the nets in Indianapolis. With Johnson as the Big East Player of the year, and a veteran leader in Andy Rautins, Syracuse has the look of a champion.

They don't have a DeMarcus Cousins or a Greg Monroe, but they have Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson, two efficient low post players who play within themselves even though they won't be hearing their names called in the NBA Draft. Outside of Johnson, Syracuse doesn't have anybody heading to the pros anytime soon.

They don't rely on individual talents as much as they rely on working as a cohesive unit offensively and defensively.

When Scoop Jardine and Kris Joseph enter the game the Orange aren't losing anything, in fact, the opposite could be said. Joseph—Big East Sixth Man of the Year—is averaging 11 points per game and third on the team in scoring. Jardine has topped the 20-point mark twice this season, most recently in the Orange's loss to Louisville.

How many teams can say seven of its players have scored 20 or more points in a game this season? Syracuse can. 

In two separate games, Johnson suffered two separate injuries causing his production to fall off. Yet, the Orange have continued to win without Johnson at full strength and fight their way to a Big East regular season title. Syracuse has taken the approach all season long that no player is as important than the next.

Team work, selflessness, and a common goal to put individual goals to the side is the main reason Syracuse has achieved success.

It is the reason they will be a No. 1 seed come Sunday and the reason Syracuse could win its first National Championship since Melo donned the bright orange jersey.