OT: Is Syracuse Less Hated In Womens Basketball?

[Connecticut]

In mens basketball, Syracuse is hated. The posters at the mens basketball hate Syracuse more than any other team. Here in womens basketball, Syracuse doesn't seem hated. Do fans of the womens basketball team hate Syracuse less than mens basketball?

 

[uconnfan68]

In mens basketball, Syracuse is hated. The posters at the mens basketball hate Syracuse more than any other team. Here in womens basketball, Syracuse doesn't seem hated. Do fans of the womens basketball team hate Syracuse less than mens basketball?

Not really... both teams are the same to me.

 

[pinotbear]

In mens basketball, Syracuse is hated. The posters at the mens basketball hate Syracuse more than any other team. Here in womens basketball, Syracuse doesn't seem hated. Do fans of the womens basketball team hate Syracuse less than mens basketball?

Nah, they're regarded as pretty despicable, much of that focused on the head coach, Quentin Hillsman. Mind you, not Tennessee despicable, not quite, and therein lies the conundrum for Huskie fans today. It is said that the enemy of your enemy is your friend, and that makes Syracuse.. or, Tennessee, .. or Syracuse.. our friend. Ick. Enough to give you a headache, or, at least a desire to go scrub your hands, thoroughly.

 

[Plebe]

Speaking just for myself, I hate Syracuse men's basketball and their fanbase. I don't feel the same for the women's team. In a way I feel sorry for the players. The women often play to less than 1,000 spectators in that massive Carrier Dome, even in years when they're a tournament team.

 

[Intpseeker]

Freeman's teams were incredibly physical. I always felt they could/would hurt someone. Couldn't beat you, but...

 

[UcMiami]

You have to be competitive to be really hated and until this year Syracuse just hasn't been on the women's side.

 

[Henry]

We all know what a jerk Hillsman is but not everybody knows the backstory with UCONN. The fact that he wouldn't schedule us to allow Stewie a home game is a disgrace. He should have been downseeded just for ducking us. Plus, the physical BS his players used to pull helped me lose all respect for him.

 

[DaddyChoc]

I like Q and his teams... I don't follow the guys too much but I know they have UConn's number.
Don't kiss anyone's Converse!

 

[Jimbo]

Nah, they're regarded as pretty despicable, much of that focused on the head coach, Quentin Hillsman. Mind you, not Tennessee despicable, not quite, and therein lies the conundrum for Huskie fans today. It is said that the enemy of your enemy is your friend, and that makes Syracuse.. or, Tennessee, .. or Syracuse.. our friend. Ick. Enough to give you a headache, or, at least a desire to go scrub your hands, thoroughly.

I agree with this 100%. In short, the best thing about today's Syracuse-Tennessee game is that somebody is going to lose it.

 

[CTyankee]

Nah, they're regarded as pretty despicable, much of that focused on the head coach, Quentin Hillsman. Mind you, not Tennessee despicable, not quite, and therein lies the conundrum for Huskie fans today. It is said that the enemy of your enemy is your friend, and that makes Syracuse.. or, Tennessee, .. or Syracuse.. our friend. Ick. Enough to give you a headache, or, at least a desire to go scrub your hands, thoroughly.

Too bad both teams could not lose. I guess since one team has to go on, I hope it will be Syracuse just to be able to hear the announcers say that the shut out of the Vols to the Final Four continues...

 

[Jimbo]

I like Q and his teams... I don't follow the guys too much but I know they have UConn's number.
Don't kiss anyone's Converse!

I think that's overstating things a little bit. Since Jim Calhoun took over as coach in 1986, by my count UConn and Syracuse have gone 27-27 against each other, including 6-6 in the Big East tournament back when that was a thing. So, head to head it's been pretty even (although UConn obviously has a clear edge in championships).

 

[Plebe]

Wow, Syracuse has gone off in the 4th quarter, much like they did against SC. This is all but over, with 5 minutes to play.

 

[01Neaggrad02]

I was rooting for the Cuse... And I hope they make it to the final game and Geno and company defeat them by 60+ points and the guy in Boston writes about it

 

[VAUConnFan]

The 6 overtime game is a classic. There was a great Big East rivalry. So many great teams in the Big East. There will never be another comparable basketball conference. So many great teams, so many great players, so many great coaches, so many great rivalries, so many great fans, o many great Big East tournaments at Madison Square Garden.

 

[Mdoggie]

Syracuse women don't have a tradition of winning. Winning equals hate. Lakers, Celtics, Yankees. College Duke, USC Trojans. Etc etc

 

[hardcorehusky]

I don't despise the women's team as much as the men. But I think Hillsman is full of himself and is a punk. Hanging a 60 point loss isn't enough. Of course, he won't shake Geno's hand again. Classless

 

[ctfjr]

Allow me to finish that for you

Freeman's teams were incredibly physical. I always felt they could/would hurt someone. Couldn't beat you, but...they could beat you

 

[MBTL90]

We all know what a jerk Hillsman is but not everybody knows the backstory with UCONN. The fact that he wouldn't schedule us to allow Stewie a home game is a disgrace. He should have been downseeded just for ducking us. Plus, the physical BS his players used to pull helped me lose all respect for him.

I see this argument on here a lot and I just don't get it. Why should syracuse bend over backwards to help out a player that spurned them? Brianna Stewart had every right to go wherever she wanted to for school, and I don't blame her for going to the best WBB program bar none in the country. But if she wanted to play in front of her friends and family, she could have gone to Syracuse. More then that though, it could have actively been bad for Syracuse WBB. Syracuse's WBB has slowly been improving, and is trying to actually become relevant at the national level. It certainly doesn't help recruiting to watch your team get smacked around by 30 in front of 5k+ opposing fans at home.

This is coming from a Syracuse fan who has seen more WBB than most. I was in pep band at 'Cuse, and attended every WBB game at home for at least 3 years, and several BET tournies at the XL center (Where I definitely got heckled at by a middle school girls basketball team who was playing at halftime, good times). Geno is the best. UConn is the best. Stewart is the best. Forgive us for not wanting to bow to their every whim.

 

[Adios]

I hope Syracuse makes it to the final so they can have a final score to remember for a lifetime.

 

[UcMiami]

I see this argument on here a lot and I just don't get it. Why should syracuse bend over backwards to help out a player that spurned them? Brianna Stewart had every right to go wherever she wanted to for school, and I don't blame her for going to the best WBB program bar none in the country. But if she wanted to play in front of her friends and family, she could have gone to Syracuse. More then that though, it could have actively been bad for Syracuse WBB. Syracuse's WBB has slowly been improving, and is trying to actually become relevant at the national level. It certainly doesn't help recruiting to watch your team get smacked around by 30 in front of 5k+ opposing fans at home.

This is coming from a Syracuse fan who has seen more WBB than most. I was in pep band at 'Cuse, and attended every WBB game at home for at least 3 years, and several BET tournies at the XL center (Where I definitely got heckled at by a middle school girls basketball team who was playing at halftime, good times). Geno is the best. UConn is the best. Stewart is the best. Forgive us for not wanting to bow to their every whim.

I completely agree that there is no requirement for Q to play Uconn to give Stewart a home game - it is his gym and he can schedule who he wants to, and I have no issue with him saying no. A bunch of other coaches have done the same in similar situations.
I personally think it was probably a bad PR move and with the team playing in that barn to generally empty houses, it would not have hurt to get a lot of local folks into the building to see Breanna and show them that Syracuse is not a bad team either. I suspect a lot of high school and younger girls teams would have tried to attend that game, and that could have helped recruiting efforts more than sparsely attended normal home games.

 

[DaddyChoc]

I think being in the FINAL FOUR will help Q and 'cuse more than a smackdown by Stewie and UConn... but smacking them down on the biggest stage would be interesting

 

[CL82]

I see this argument on here a lot and I just don't get it. Why should syracuse bend over backwards to help out a player that spurned them? Brianna Stewart had every right to go wherever she wanted to for school, and I don't blame her for going to the best WBB program bar none in the country. But if she wanted to play in front of her friends and family, she could have gone to Syracuse. More then that though, it could have actively been bad for Syracuse WBB. Syracuse's WBB has slowly been improving, and is trying to actually become relevant at the national level. It certainly doesn't help recruiting to watch your team get smacked around by 30 in front of 5k+ opposing fans at home.

This is coming from a Syracuse fan who has seen more WBB than most. I was in pep band at 'Cuse, and attended every WBB game at home for at least 3 years, and several BET tournies at the XL center (Where I definitely got heckled at by a middle school girls basketball team who was playing at halftime, good times). Geno is the best. UConn is the best. Stewart is the best. Forgive us for not wanting to bow to their every whim.

They don't have to, but they look petulant and petty by not doing so. Their reputation for being 'chippy' is probably the source of the tepid dislike on this board.

On the men's side Syracuse fans on our sister site are pretty obsessed with UConn. "EF YOU Conn" threads show up pretty regularly there. They are also quick to ban there which builds ill will. On top of that they have a history of ethical problems, most recently a decade long triple scandal involving, drugs, illegal payments to players and academic fraud.

In short there's not a whole lot to like about them. They are plucky and gritty though, so you gave to give them that.

 

[Rocket009]

They don't have to, but they look petulant and petty by not doing so. Their reputation for being 'chippy' is probably the source of the tepid dislike on this board.

On the men's side Syracuse fans on our sister site are pretty obsessed with UConn. " Conn" threads show up pretty regularly there. They are also quick to ban there which builds ill will. On top of that they have a history of ethical problems, most recently a decade long trple scandal involving, drugs, illegal payments to players and academic fraud.

In short there's not a whole lot to like about them. They are plucky and gritty though, so you gave to give them that.

Just finished watching the Syracuse/Tenn replay and I have to admit I really liked how they played. Great defense, good offense and a good team effort. I find it a little harder to dislike them after watching them take TN apart with solid team play. There is a lot to admire there - even for a UCONN fan.

 

[Icebear]

PSU fans hate 'Cuse because the famous Beoheim match up zone which he is credited for creating was lifted from the Dick Harter years at PSU.

 

[huskyharry]

I don't have any animosity against the program of either gender, Per se.

the fans on the men's side have certainly been obnoxious for many years. I didn't like the style of play that the women's team has used in the past with a seem to deliberately Target players like Maya, but I have no animosity at all against the female team. However, coach Boeheim is an awful man, who enabled a pedophile on his staff for many years and has received no punishment whatsoever. When the issue that his associate coach was abusing ball - boys came to his attention several years back, instead of bringing it to the attention of the proper authorities, he and the administration established an in-house investigation which found no evidence of wrongdoing. At that time, the offenses would have still be en within the statute of limitations. Five years or so ago, when the situation came to public light, the Syracuse Police Chief said that there was credible evidence to pursue charges against the associate coach but it was now past the statute of limitations. the associate coach was fired. But Coach Boeheim never received any punishment and only time that he had a bit of remorse was that he donated a small amount of money to a charity for abuse victims...the Excuse that he uses is that I was only responsible for the play of the basketball players on the court.