1980–81 Syracuse Orangemen basketball team

The 1980–81 Syracuse Orangemen men's basketball team represented Syracuse University in NCAA Division I men's competition in the 1980–81 academic year. They finished with an overall record of 22–12 (6–8 Big East) Syracuse was invited to the 1981 National Invitation Tournament and made it all the way to the championship game. But in the final they dropped a close matchup to Tulsa 86–84 in overtime.

1980–81 Syracuse Orangemen basketball
Big East Tournament Champions
NIT tournament, Runner-Up
Conference	Big East Conference
Record	22-12 (6-8 Big East)
Head coach	Jim Boeheim (5th season)
Home arena	Carrier Dome
Seasons ← 1979–80 1981–82 →

1980–81 Big East men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Boston College	10	–	4		.714			23	–	7		.767
Georgetown	9	–	5		.643			20	–	12		.625
St. John's	8	–	6		.571			17	–	11		.607
Villanova	8	–	6		.571			20	–	11		.645
Connecticut	8	–	6		.571			20	–	9		.690
Syracuse †	6	–	8		.429			22	–	12		.647
Seton Hall	4	–	10		.286			11	–	16		.407
Providence	3	–	11		.214			10	–	18		.357
† 1981 Big East tournament winner Rankings from AP poll[1]

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
November 29*		Columbia	W 108–81	1–0	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
December 5*		Kent State	W 81–65	2–0	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
December 6*	No. 18	No. 4 Maryland Carrier Classic	L 73–83	2–1	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
December 10*		at Detroit	W 93–79	3–1	Joe Louis Arena  Detroit, Michigan
December 12* 8:30 p.m.	No. 20	at Illinois State	W 64–52	4–1	Horton Field House (6,086) Normal, Illinois
December 16*		Penn State	W 77–63	5–1	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
December 29*		Colgate	W 100–84	6–1	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
January 3*		at Canisius	W 88–72	7–1	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium  Buffalo, NY
January 5		at Connecticut Rivalry	L 59–78	7–2 (0–1)	New Haven Coliseum  New Haven, Connecticut
January 7*		Niagara	W 107–84	8–2 (0–1)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
January 10		Villanova	L 65–69	8–3 (0–2)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
January 14		Providence	W 84–66	9–3 (1–2)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
January 17		at Georgetown	L 57–62	9–4 (1–3)	McDonough Gymnasium  Washington, D. C.
January 21		at Boston College	L 63–66	9–5 (1–4)	Roberts Center  Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
January 24		St. John's	W 79–71	10–5 (2–4)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
January 26*		at St. Bonaventure	L 71–74	10–6 (2–4)	Reilly Center  St. Bonaventure, NY
January 30*		Old Dominion	W 71–58	11–6 (2–4)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
February 1*		at DePaul	L 69–91	11–7 (2–4)	Rosemont Horizon  Rosemont, Illinois
February 4		Seton Hall	W 74–62	12–7 (3–4)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
February 7		at Providence	W 81–67	13–7 (4–4)	Providence Civic Center  Providence, RI
February 9		Georgetown	W 66–64	14–7 (5–4)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
February 14		Connecticut Rivalry	L 63–65	14–8 (5–5)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
February 17		at Villanova	L 78–88	14–9 (5–6)	The Palestra  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
February 21		at Seton Hall	L 65–66	14–10 (5–7)	Walsh Gymnasium  South Orange, NJ
February 25		Boston College	W 90–86	15–10 (6–7)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
February 28		at St. John's	L 73–82	15–11 (6–8)	Carnesecca Arena  New York, NY
Big East tournament
March 5	(6)	(3) St. John's Quarterfinals	W 71–66	16–11 (6–8)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
March 6	(6)	(2) Georgetown Semifinals	W 67–53	17–11 (6–8)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
March 7	(6)	(4) Villanova Championship game	W 83–80 3OT	18–11 (6–8)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
NIT
March 13*		Marquette First round	W 88–81	19–11 (6–8)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
March 16*		Holy Cross Second round	W 77–57	20–11 (6–8)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
March 19*		Michigan Quarterfinals	W 91–76	21–11 (6–8)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
March 23*		vs. Purdue Semifinals	W 70–63	22–11 (6–8)	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
March 25*		vs. Tulsa Finals	L 84–86 OT	22–12 (6–8)	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

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