2003 Syracuse could not compete with 2003 UConn, but they’re better than 2004 UConn....lol.
Well to be fair and complete. In 2004 UNC (who won it all in 2005) beat UConn in the regular season as did Georgia Tech who was really good that year, too. However, UConn didn't play their best game (not bad, though) and UNC played their absolute best at their home court and barely won. That was the one game UConn's poor FT shooting cost them, if they make even a few more, they win that game. And we know how GTech blew them out early and then got destroyed in the title game.
But the main difference is if UConn played UNC in the tournament in 2004, I think UConn beats them in a 10 pt win or whatever, it wouldn't be a nail biter-I wasn't worried about UNC after that regular season loss, I knew they couldn't beat UConn if UConn played their best. In fact, CBS writer Gregg Doyel, who Calhoun hated because Doyel wrote a lot of scathing articles about UConn, stated after the UNC loss, said the team that lost, UConn, is clearly the best team in the nation.
Also, UNCs 2005 team, which was a little better than their 2004 team, had a tough time against UConn's 2005 team which was significantly worse than their 2004 team (not really close TBH), in the regular season game in Hartford.
In 2003, if Syracuse played UConn in the tournament, I think UConn wins that game. That was a time UConn had their number and the 2-3 zone didn't rattle UConn like it did to out of conference opponents.