After preseason practices, the Syracuse men’s basketball team broke huddle with the chant of “Final Four!”

Since SU began the season unranked, that notion seemed unlikely.

Now, the Orangemen can call themselves champions.

No. 3-seeded Syracuse won its first NCAA men’s basketball championship in school history last night by beating No. 2 Kansas, 81-78, in the Louisiana Superdome. As the clock ticked down, the 11,068 fans who gathered in the Carrier Dome cheered ravenously and bottlenecked out of the arena into steadily falling snow. Fans rushed to Marshall Street, where they danced on the snow-covered sidewalks and swung from trees. Fireworks crackled above the street, as some fans lit fires and jumped through them.

As the buzzer sounded in New Orleans, SU head coach Jim Boeheim briefly thrust his hands over his head, then walked to center court and calmly shook hands with Kansas head coach Roy Williams. Boeheim’s wife, Juli, rushed from the stands and twice planted a kiss on her husband’s lips.

In winning his first national title, Boeheim, SU’s 27-year head coach, exorcised his ghosts from the ‘87 championship, also held in the Superdome. In that game, Indiana’s Keith Smart hit a shot with four seconds left to snuff SU’s hopes.

Before last night, Boeheim had more NCAA Tournament wins (37) than any other active coach who hadn’t won a title. Kansas’ Williams is now second on that list, with 34 wins.

SU had played in the national title game twice before, losing to Indiana, 74-73, in 1987 and to Kentucky, 76-67, in 1996.

En route to this year’s championship, SU beat four Big 12 teams — Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas. In doing so, Syracuse smothered the notion that it takes experience to win a national title. All season, the Orangemen started two freshmen — forward Carmelo Anthony and guard Gerry McNamara — and two sophomores — forward Hakim Warrick and center Craig Forth.

Syracuse will likely be nationally ranked No. 1 before next season, and, should Anthony return, the Orangemen will be odds-on favorites to repeat.

Valiant return

The Orangemen are leaving New Orleans on a charter flight at about 10 a.m. today. They will return in the middle of the afternoon, an SU spokesman said.

There will be a celebration for the Orangemen on Thursday in the Carrier Dome at 7:30 p.m. Gates open at 6:30, and admission is free. Parking will be available in the Dome west lots. Once those lots fill, parking is available at Manley Field House and Skytop, and buses will shuttle fans to the Dome.

Published on April 7, 2003 at 12:00 pm