Syracuse, N.Y. — Syracuse basketball players will be spectators at this weekend’s Sweet 16 at the Carrier Dome. Some might try to attend the games. Some might watch on TV. Others won’t check in at all.
But a few Orange players are invested in the outcome. They have filled out brackets. Or they are interested college basketball viewers.
Those Syracuse players have a distinct favorite for this weekend’s teams in the Carrier Dome. During a break Wednesday at the Golisano Children’s Hospital, where the players waited for young patients to arrive for a visit, SU players made that preference known:
North Carolina State.
“N.C. State really looks good to me. I think they’ll win the region. I feel like their highest high is bigger than most teams’ highest high,” SU guard Michael Gbinije said. “But they also have the lowest low. They surprised me at Villanova. They looked good. They have size. Trevor Lacey is good. They’ve got a decent bench.”
“Honestly, the East Regional, it’s not like anybody thought it would be,” SU guard Trevor Cooney said. “I think N.C. State’s rolling right now. They’re playing well. They’ve got a lot of different pieces. If they get it going, I think they could win it.”
Cooney equivocated: “But Louisville always makes a run in the tournament, no matter what seed they are. Oklahoma’s a good team.”
But in the end, he settled on his original choice: “I’m picking N.C. State.”
SU guard/forward Mike Sutton said he’s leading his NCAA Tournament bracket and boasted of his mastery over Cooney: “I’m beating Trevor, I know that,” he said. Sutton said he initially picked Kentucky to win the national championship.
“But I’m starting to have doubts,” Sutton said. “I like Arizona a lot. That’s my team right now.”
Gbinije boldly foresees an Arizona-N.C. State national championship clash, with Arizona emerging as the title team.
Why all the love for the Wolfpack?
Cooney laughed: “They’re the last team we played.”
N.C. State dominated Syracuse 71-54 in Raleigh to close out the Orange season.
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