ACC Expansion and Conference Realignment: 5 Strengths Syracuse, Pitt Bring

The landscape of college athletics continues to be rearranged, and Syracuse and Pitt are in the process of relocating from the Big East to the ACC.

Talk about adding quality to your conference in a hurry!

While it will impact all of the sports for these schools, let's take a quick look at five strengths these two schools bring to men's basketball in the Atlantic Coast Conference

Winning Traditions

Both Syracuse and Pitt will bring significant winning traditions in men's basketball.

The Orange have played for 109 seasons, posting an overall record of 1810-818 (68.9 winning percentage), and are the fifth-winningest D1 program in NCAA history.

They have won eight (regular season) Big East championships and five conference tournament titles. 

They have made 33 NCAA appearances, advancing to the Final Four four times, and winning it all with the 2003 NCAA tournament.

The Orange have piled up 40 consecutive winning seasons (an NCAA record)...That's impressive!

Pitt has recorded 1,465 victories (against 1,048 losses, a 58.2 winning percentage) since their inaugural season of 1905-06.

Pitt is the only team in Big East history to reach the conference championship game seven times in eight seasons, earning a trip to the title game from 2001-04 and 2006-08.

The Panthers have made 23 NCAA appearances, making it to the Final Four once.

Illustrious Coaches

Both Syracuse and Pitt's coaches have carved out special places for themselves in the college basketball scene.

Jim Boeheim has been the head coach at Syracuse for 35 years. Thirty-five years at one school.

Actually, Boeheim played at Syracuse from 1962-66, and was an assistant coach there from 1969-1976. 

Boeheim has guided the Orange to eight Big East regular season championships and five Big East Tournament championships. 

His Syracuse teams have made 28 NCAA Tournament appearances, including three appearances in the national title game, winning it all in 2003.

With 856 wins, Boeheim is fifth in the all-time wins list, behind only Bob Knight, Mike Krzyzewski, Dean Smith and Adolph Rupp. Not bad company, I'd say.

Meanwhile, in eight seasons as the Panthers head coach, Jamie Dixon has already won over 200 games.

His 216-60 record puts him at a place of winning more games sooner than almost any other coach in NCAA history.

Pitt has gone to "the Dance" all eight seasons under Dixon's leadership, going to the Sweet 16 twice and the Elite Eight once.  

Long History of Elite-Level Players

Both Syracuse and Pitt have long lists of exceptional players who have taken to the court for their respective schools.

Names like Dave Bing, Derrick Coleman, Sherman Douglas (pictured) and Carmelo Anthony just begin the record of those who have suited up for Syracuse.

On the other side, Billy Knight, Charles Smith, Brandin Knight and DeJuan Blair are just a few of those who have excelled at Pitt.

Excellent Home Arenas

Syracuse plays their home games at the Carrier Dome (pictured), the largest domed stadium on any college campus.

The listed basketball-capacity for "The Loud House" is 33,000.

But the Orange pack in many more fans for big games, with the record being 34,616 for a 2010 victory over Villanova.

Pitt has played their home games at the 12,500-seat Petersen Events Center since it opened in 2002.

The Panthers have won 55 of their last 56 home games at "The Pete."

Suffice it to say, when teams come to play at either of these venues, they don't walk away with a "W" too often.

Rowdy Student Sections

Otto's Army is Syracuse's officially recognized student fan organization, and the Syracuse students are so zealous that they camp out in "Boeheimburg" for the best seats possible before major home games.

While other schools' students do the same, doing it in upstate New York in the dead of winter is pretty impressive.

At Pitt, "The Oakland Zoo" makes it as rough as possible on Panther opponents.

The Oakland Zoo distributes four-page newspapers prior to every home game (pictured) with details on Pitt players and opponents.

The Zoo uses these papers to mock the opposing team during player introductions by holding them up and not acknowledging them (other than yelling "sucks" after each player is announced).

A 2009 Wall Street Journal article stated:

"

Pitt graduate student Dave Jedlicka, the president of the Zoo, proudly recounts how Pitt fans found personal pictures of West Virginia star Kevin Pittsnogle and his wife on Facebook and brandished them at a game in 2006. Mr. Pittsnogle missed all 12 of his shot attempts that day.

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