Granted, the squad's nucleus of Hakim Warrick, Gerry McNamara, Josh Pace and Billy Edelin matches the 2003 national championship team (minus Carmelo Anthony), and you can't exactly top that result, but these guys play so well together, they truly form a sum greater than the addition of their individual parts.

Down eight points with 14:11 to go, with Warrick in major foul trouble and the Joyce Center pretty much up for grabs, I kinda wrote the game off. It happens. Sometimes the bank is closed, the rim gets tight on free throws and things snowball. Despite a 15-1 record and a No. 7 ranking coming in, Syracuse was only a one-point favorite anyway.

I should have known better, though. I've seen this team play (and win) live at Madison Square Garden three times this year — twice against ranked opponents — and the second half is where they made their money, making smarter passes, getting better shots and not giving an inch on defense. And that's exactly what happened in South Bend, where SU went on a 24-8 run in which six different players scored and each contributed mightily to the most well-executed 2-3 zone in the nation. Forty Minutes of Hell it ain't. But Forty Minutes of Frustration? Perhaps.

We don't have four McDonald's All-Americans, like Duke. We don't have three starters 6-9 or taller, like UConn. We don't have Dukie V. recruiting for us, like he does every ACC school (even though three of the last six national champs came from the Big East). But what we have is a team that reminds me of the New England Patriots. Syracuse may not lead in ink, but they make things look easier than they are. They leave departing fans thinking, "Damn, those guys were tough," even when they don't play their best. Monday night, 'Cuse converted only 4 of 15 (.267) three-pointers and were a horrendous 10-for-24 (.417) from the foul line.

Notre Dame came into the game at 10-2 and came close to cracking the latest Top 25 hoops poll. But despite playing on their home court and not getting Syracuse's best, they lost somewhat convincingly.

An unselfish, poised team with one of the game's best coaches (the days of Jim Boeheim being criticized for not getting enough out of players are long gone) reminds me a little of the team that's won two of the last three Super Bowls. The NCAA Tournament can be such a crap shoot; one bad game in six and you're out. But this team's got the talent, smarts and moxie to pull a two-out-of-three itself.

ESPN.com's Bracketology has them as a 3-seed. OK, I guess. Matchups mean a lot, and maybe they don't match up well against the top teams in the nation, but I'm not trading this squad for anyone right now.

Other Sports Ruminations:

• The NFL has lost some dignity and it's its own fault. How is Randy Moss not even penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct on a play deemed so "offensive" that it wasn't replayed during FOX's telecast or on ESPN later that night? Mocking a mooning of a crowd wasn't exactly "sportsmanlike." FOX airs a reality TV show about a woman guessing her true father. ESPN airs an entire season of Playmakers, for god's sake. But their morals are such that they won't show a guy pretending to expose his ass to a crowd of people that, as Tony Dungy explains, is a retort to people who have exposed their own asses to opposing players many times.

Put in the proper context, the "celebration" wasn't offensive, but merely an indictment of where the NFL has let itself go. They've lost control of some of these clowns, a proven nut case like Moss among them.

• You could wager on the Mets at 50/1 to win the World Series on BetOnSports.com on Monday. The Yanks were favored at 2/1, but how 'bout putting a measly $10 on the Mets? Not a bad pick, considering they have to be about even money to make the postseason, no?

• Randy Johnson has an altercation with a camera man on his way to take physical in New York. Not good. I can only imagine what Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez go through. The Big Unit has to at least endure ½ of it for $16 million a year.

• Have you tuned into a college basketball game? See many fights? See much scripted taunting of opposing teams, coaches or fans? See anything more than a passion to represent one's own school? In college basketball, even at the highest levels, there are bosses. Real bosses. In the NFL, it seems there is no authority. The inmates run the asylum.

• When did it become socially acceptable for ESPN to scroll women's college hoops scores on The Bottom Line? 'Cause I missed the memo about people actually giving a crap about women's basketball.

• Peyton Manning received 47 of 48 first-place votes for NFL MVP, the other going to Michael Vick. I make a motion that no more Madden Challenge winners be allowed to vote. Seriously, how could anyone with 1/10th of a brain think that the Colts would be anywhere near 13-3 with Jim Sorgi at QB? Vick had a QB rating of 78.1, good enough for 21st in the league. His 17 TDs rushing and passing in 16 games does not an MVP make. One of the most blatant examples of idiocy in an MVP vote since Barry Bonds lost eight first-place votes in 2004. People, he's been getting on base 60% of the time for four years! Stop looking for excuses why not to vote him MVP.

• I went 4-0 against the spread in my wild-card round picks. Since you can't see through the monitor, pretend I'm taking a bow.

• Peyton Manning tossed 33 passes on Sunday, threw almost as many touchdowns (4) as incompletions (6), and averaged 14 yards every time he dropped back. Sick. Sick. Sick.

• In case you haven't heard, Norman Chad is with Don Everest, known as the Matador, for his ability to lure young bullls into the ring...