If you’re a Syracuse men’s basketball fan, watch out. The next five weeks will be intense.

SU will barely defeat Providence, almost double-up Villanova and score only 54 points against Georgetown – and still win.

Those Orange basketballers will finish the season on a six-game win streak, carry that momentum into New York for the Big East tournament and make it to the Big East championship game. Amazing, I know.

The men’s basketball regular season wraps up in the next two weeks and the question surrounding the Orange recently has been whether it has the oomph necessary to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

SU head coach Jim Boeheim remains mum, as always, because he’d rather create a game plan or spend time with his family than fuel an incessant media fire about something he really can’t control anyway. Boeheim’s players have been less coy, but still haven’t let us know if they have any insights about whether SU is in the NCAA Tournament.

So, I took it upon myself to traverse a treacherous path and find the one source that could impart even the most profound knowledge on ordinary people like me. That is, I stepped over the pile of laundry on my bedroom floor, evaded the smell wafting from my bathroom, climbed down the apartment stairs and popped EA Sports’ NCAA 07 March Madness into the all-knowing PlayStation 2. I simulated the next few games to see where it would take me.

My discoveries follow. The PlayStation can’t be wrong, but boy we are in for some strange hoops in late February and early March.

Saturday, Feb. 24 – Syracuse 72, Providence 65After trailing at the half, Syracuse uses a balanced attack to beat Providence at home. Freshman Paul Harris led the Orange with 18 points, and seniors Terrence Roberts and Demetris Nichols and sophomore Eric Devendorf also score in double figures. Rarely-used guard Jake Presutti comes off the bench for SU (20-8, 9-5 Big East) and scores seven points, increasing his career-point total by 700 percent.

Monday, Feb. 26 – Syracuse 54, Georgetown 47It’s Senior Night at the Carrier Dome. Senior big men Darryl Watkins and Roberts face Roy Hibbert, one of the Big East’s best centers. Roberts and Watkins more than answer the call, combining for 23 rebounds while limiting Hibbert to 10 points and nine rebounds. Devendorf leads the way offensively, scoring 24 of SU’s 54 points.

Saturday, March 3 – Syracuse 103, Villanova 58The last game of the regular season really charges up the Orange. Devendorf follows up a strong offensive performance with a career-high 33 points against the Wildcats. Roberts scores 22 points as Harris and Nichols add 16 apiece. The Orange took 69 shots from the floor and, in a show of marksmanship, was 39-of-50 from the foul line. SU’s 58 first-half points match Villanova’s game total.

With the regular season finished, Syracuse marches on to the Big East tournament as the No. 5 seed. It beats St. John’s, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh to advance to the championship game against Marquette.

A large, virtual New York City contingent must rally behind the Orange in the final as SU speeds to a 34-32 lead at halftime. Maybe sensing a third-straight Big East tournament win would ruin the program forever, Syracuse lets off in the second half. The Golden Eagles win the Big East Championship, 65-61, as my PlayStation begins to make strange noises and proceeds to freeze.

Perhaps SU’s rousing nine-game win streak to end the season was too much for the poor PlayStation to handle. We may never know for sure.

But all you Syracuse fans know this – the Orange is about to do something special and that NCAA Tournament bid is all but assured.

Now everyone can sit back, relax and watch the majesty of the PlayStation’s predicting powers unfold.

Rob Anthes is an assistant sports editor emeritus, where his columns usually appear on Wednesdays. E-mail him at rmanthes@syr.edu.

Published on February 20, 2007 at 12:00 pm