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While they had to endure eight consecutive game weeks to get to this point, the football coaches are on the recruiting road in advance of many of their rivals. Head coach Doug Marrone checked in this week and his whirlwind tour has taken him through Virginia, New York City and Long Island, among other stops.

Marrone, a product of the Bronx, has been paired with secondary coach John Anselmo on a recent downstate swing. Between the two of them, there's no need to ask for directions.

“We don't have to introduce ourselves and we don't have a GPS,” Marrone said. “When you don't have to those two things and you're traveling recruiting, you know you're (entrenched) in an area.”

Recruiting New York City and Long Island has been good to the Marrone regime, as it was in the program's winningest times. Mining alumni areas has its benefits.

“We're seeing people that at one time had been a big part of Syracuse University where they had sent people to Syracuse and they have done well,” Marrone said. “Now we have things going in the right direction. People have seen the difference in our program and our players from when I first had gotten there until now. They're excited about that. The momentum is great right now.”

You can hear more from Coach Marrone tonight at 8 p.m. on the Syracuse Sports Network and Orange All Access.

Seven-and-Oh, no!: The start of the men's basketball season has brought mixed feelings.

Up: 7-0, and climbing weekly to eighth in the national rankings. What more could you want?
Down: Most of the games have been too close for comfort and marked by less than distinguished play.

Up: Rick Jackson has assembled clearly the best stretch of his career with six straight double-doubles. He had just seven in the three previous years combined.
Down: Less experienced players are struggling to consistently play winning basketball.

Last night's game featured both. The Orange used a patented 14-0 run and built a 20-point lead in the game's first 11 minutes. From there, they played even against Cornell. The last 29 minutes featured 17 Orange turnovers. Cornell scored the game's last seven points.

Coach Jim Boeheim hasn't held back. “We made ridiculous turnovers that you just can't have,” he said after last night's win over the Big Red. “We've got a lot of work to do.”

Indeed. North Carolina St. (Sat., Dome) and certainly #6 Michigan St. (Tue., MSG) have the weapons to expose an Orange team that isn't playing better.

Howdy, Pardner: TCU is maybe closer than you think. I swear this is 100% true. Monday, within an hour of the press conference that announced Texas Christian University had accepted an invitation to join the Big East Conference, I was on my way to basketball practice at the Carrier Dome. I came up on a vehicle awkwardly parked near a campus entrance. It had the Lone Star-themed Texas license plates and a spare tire cover from a dealership in Fort Worth, the home of TCU. A gentleman in a huge cowboy hat walked from the passenger's side, spit on the ground and hopped behind the wheel. Welcome aboard, Tex.

Did You Know?: There's a good opportunity to see both of SU's next basketball opponents. Tonight at 7:15, North Carolina St. (4-1) visits Wisconsin on ESPN2. Michigan St. (5-1) is at top-ranked Duke after that on ESPN.

This Week's Broadcasts:
Tonight/8:00p    TK99/97.7 AmeriCU Doug Marrone Show
Thu./7:00p          TWCS          Syracuse Sidelines
Thu./7:00p          TK99/97.7 AmeriCU Jim Boeheim Show
Fri./7:00p             OAA             ICE vs. Wayne St.
Sat./11:45            97.7              WBB vs. Delaware St.
Sat./4:00              TK99/97.7 MBB vs. North Carolina St.

Heads up: There will be a special AmeriCU Doug Marrone Show live at Red Robin in Fayetteville, two weeks from today (Dec. 15) at 7 p.m.

I'd be happy to field your questions on anything regarding the Orange. Shoot me an email to the Radio Mailbox.

Syracuse University Athletics

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