Syracuse Basketball: Early NET Rankings Reveal Steep Climb for Men, Promising Start for Women
With the first NET rankings of the 2025-26 college basketball season officially out, we’re starting to get a clearer picture of where the Syracuse Orange stand - and what kind of road lies ahead for both the men’s and women’s teams.
Let’s start with the men.
Men’s Team: A Tough Start, a Tougher Climb
Syracuse opens at No. 90 in the NET rankings, placing them 14th in the ACC. That’s not where you want to be if you’re aiming for an NCAA Tournament bid - something the Orange haven’t locked down since the 2020-21 season.
So far, the Orange have played seven games, and here’s the kicker: every single one has come against either Quadrant 1 or Quadrant 4 opponents. They’ve handled the Q4 matchups just fine, going 4-0. But the Q1 games - the kind that matter most in the eyes of the selection committee - have been a different story.
Syracuse went 0-3 in those high-stakes matchups, all of which came during the 2025 Players Era Festival in Las Vegas. The losses came to three top-tier teams: Houston (No. 18) in a tight overtime battle, Kansas (No. 17) by 11 points, and Iowa State (No. 7) in a lopsided 31-point defeat. That last one stings - not just because of the margin, but because it exposed how far this team still has to go against elite-level competition.
The next big test? Tennessee comes to town on Tuesday.
It’s another Q1 opportunity, and a crucial one. National analysts are already circling this game as a potential turning point for Syracuse’s tournament hopes.
Win it, and the Orange get a much-needed résumé boost. Lose, and the climb gets even steeper.
ACC Slate: A Gauntlet of Q1 Road Games
Looking ahead to conference play, the NET rankings paint a challenging picture. Out of Syracuse’s 18 ACC games, seven are currently classified as Quadrant 1 - and six of those are on the road. That’s a brutal setup for a team still trying to find its footing.
Here’s how the Q1 games break down:
- Road: NC State (No. 40), North Carolina (No.
26), Virginia (No. 31), Duke (No.
2), Wake Forest (No. 56), Louisville (No.
- Home: North Carolina (No.
That’s a tough stretch, especially with a four-game run late in the season that includes Duke, UNC, Wake Forest, and Louisville - all away from the Dome except for Carolina. That could either be the stretch that makes the Orange’s season - or breaks it.
Beyond that, the ACC schedule includes four Q2 games and seven Q3 matchups. Not a single Q4 game remains, which means every win from here on out carries a little more weight - and every loss, a little more sting.
Women’s Team: Strong Start, Stronger Potential
On the women’s side, the Orange are off to a solid start and sit at No. 41 in the NET rankings - good for seventh in the ACC. That’s a much more promising position, especially considering they’re undefeated in Q3 and Q4 games (6-0), and have already tested themselves against a top-tier opponent in Michigan (No. 5), albeit in a neutral-site loss.
Like the men, the women have seven Q1 games on the schedule, and five of those are on the road - including trips to North Carolina (No. 13), Virginia (No.
34), Miami (No. 50), NC State (No. 39), and Notre Dame (No.
32). That’s a gauntlet, but it’s also a golden opportunity.
Here’s a breakdown of what the rest of the ACC slate looks like by quadrant:
- Q1: 7 games
- Q2: 5 games
- Q3: 4 games
- Q4: 2 games
The home slate brings some marquee matchups too - Stanford (No. 23), Louisville (No. 14), and Duke (No. 49) all come to town, offering the Orange a chance to build a résumé that could turn heads come March.
Tournament Outlook: Work to Be Done
According to the latest bracketology projections, neither Syracuse squad is currently in the NCAA Tournament picture. But it’s early.
For the men, the path forward is paved with Q1 landmines - but also chances to prove they belong. For the women, it’s about continuing to take care of business against lower-tier opponents while finding a way to steal a few big ones along the way.
The NET rankings don’t tell the whole story, but they do offer a roadmap. And right now, both Syracuse teams are staring down a stretch that will define their seasons.