Syracuse Self-Imposes a Postseason Ban for 2015 Season, Will Not Participate in ACC Tournament

Syracuse is self-imposing a postseason ban for this year, meaning they will not be participating in the NIT, or the ACC Tournament. Jim Boeheim said they were “doing the right thing by acknowledging past mistakes occurred.”

Those “mistakes” occurred long before any of these players were at the University, and are related to academic fraud issues from the past decade. It’s hard not to be cynical with this move on a couple of fronts. Generally, it’s punishing players who were not involved. Further, Syracuse is likely not to be a NCAA at-large selection. They are currently 69th in the RPI, and would likely need to get to 20 wins to have a chance. Three of the remaining home games are against Duke, Louisville, and Virginia, and they have five ACC road games. Even if they do make it, it would be as a borderline tournament team. Should teams be able to self-impose a penalty after the season is underway?

Either way, the NCAA is free to impose stiffer penalties if they choose as well.