Jim Boeheim isn’t one to speak in exaggerations. So looking forward after Syracuse’s win Sunday night against Le Moyne, the head coach’s words rang out as a warning bell, loud and clear.

‘We have probably the toughest schedule in the entire country the next few games,’ Boeheim said in his postgame press conference. ‘We’re just going to have to work our way through it, see what we do well, see what we need to work on, and we’ll find out early this year what we really need to work on.’

The stretch starts tonight when Richmond (1-0) travels to the Carrier Dome for a 6 p.m. tip, in the second game of the College Basketball Experience Classic. The Orange then has another home game Friday against Oakland, before heading to Kansas City for the back half of the CBE. There, it will play No. 18 Florida, the 2007 NCAA Champion, and either No. 24 Kansas, the 2008 NCAA Champion, or Washington.

‘That’s all we’ve been hearing about,’ center Arinze Onuaku said Sunday of the upcoming schedule. ‘We’re starting the season basically with a bang. So we’re just trying to take every day seriously and just go out there and try hard.’

There’s no way to verify Boeheim’s toughest-schedule-in-the-country claim (NCAA doesn’t release strength of schedule numbers until December), but there’s no doubt the Orange is testing itself this season. Oakland returns five starters from a 17-14 squad last year. Syracuse’s competition in Kansas City could include the last two national champions. Three days after that, SU plays host to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Virginia, a team SU beat on the road last season, 70-68.

The matchups are in stark contrast to Boeheim’s previous non-conference scheduling. In recent years, the 33-year head coach was often criticized for putting together a soft non-conference schedule. In 2007, when the Orange narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament, a weak non-conference strength of schedule was seen as one of the forefront reasons.

Junior forward Paul Harris said the tight scheduling will help keep the team in the groove during the early part of the season.

‘It’s good, we’re young,’ Harris said Sunday. ‘Bring them on. It’s good to keep playing. Sometimes you don’t’ want to want practice all the time, you want to play games. I’m glad we have a game in two days.’

As for Richmond, longtime Syracuse fans will remember the Spiders well. In the 1991 NCAA Tournament, 15th-seeded Richmond knocked off second-seeded Syracuse, marking the first time a seed that low had ever won a Tournament game. SU has won the latest two matchups, the last one coming in the 2002 NIT. Tuesday marks the fourth meeting.

This year’s Richmond squad utilizes a Princeton-style offense, which features numerous backdoor plays and screens that can catch a defense off guard. That provides an opportunity for the Orange to focus on its defense, an area it struggled with in last season, but showed improvement on in the opener.

‘This is really going to be a test, it’s going to show how sturdy we are on our defensive principles,’ point guard Jonny Flynn said after Sunday’s game. ‘If we have a player in the passing lane like we did tonight too much, they’re just going to go right backdoor. We just have to be sound defensively and it’ll be a good game for us.’

After playing two exhibitions and an opener against a Division II school, it’s difficult to predict how Syracuse will fare against tough competition – which it will see plenty of in the Big East. But thanks to the upcoming schedule, that will all change soon.

‘The level of competition will be good from here on out,’ Boeheim said.

kbaustin@syr.edu

Published on November 17, 2008 at 12:00 pm