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.

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

1980–81 Big East men's basketball standings

	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

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.