Jim Boeheim has it out for the ACC again.
The Syracuse coach who famously bashed his school’s decision to leave its Big East roots for “money and football,” and later knocked the ACC Tournament’s longtime home by remarking there is “no value to playing in Greensboro,” criticized the ACC as “stupid” Wednesday night for scheduling intra-conference games in most ACC teams’ season-openers.
The Ora✃nge (0-1) by reigning national champion Virginia, 48-34, at the Carrier Dome.
Last season, Syracuse began league play on Jan. 5, but the ACC’s expansion to 20 games — combined with the first season with the ACC Network — resulted in the unusual opener.
“I wish we’d have won, so when I say what I’m gonna say it wouldn’t matter, [but] you never want to play these league games early. It’s stupid. It’s just a money grab,” . “They scheduled games for TV, for the TV contracts, so you gotta play games early, and somebody had the brilliant idea of opening up the first game with a league game. I just don’t think it’s good. I don’t think it’s smart. You want to build up to the league. The league’s the most important thing. So why would you play the first game of the year in the league? It makes no sense.”
Syracuse, which features four new starters and five freshmen, were woefully unprepared against the 11th-ranked team in the nation. Elijah Hughes, the team’s only returning starter, scored 14 points. None of his teammates scored more than seven, with the Orange shooting 23.6 percent from the field (13-of-55), including 5-of-29 3-pointers.
It was Syracuse’s lowest-scoring game in Boeheim’s 44 seasons as coach, and the school’s lowest total in 65 years.
“Right now, our offense isn’t good enough to play against that defense,” Boeheim said. “They’re too physical, too strong. They just take you out. The shots we got were tough.”