When you think of Syracuse, many immediately think of Syracuse men’s basketball. The program's rich history has made it one of the most iconic brands in college sports. In recent years the team has struggled, last making the NCAA Tournament in 2021. As they sit at 11-15 this season, attendance numbers have dropped. What do fans think about the state of the program? 

“We’re an OK program that used to be great," said Syracuse Orange fan Ethan Lang. 

“We always expect to at least be in the running to make the NCAA Tournament and we’re going on possibly our fourth year of not making it so it’s definitely a change for us," said Bert Aufsesser, owner of Scholars and Champs. 

For years, Syracuse men’s basketball was one of the gold standard programs in college basketball. They have the seventh most wins of any Division One college basketball program ever, but recently, they’ve struggled.

“I mean it’s pretty frustrating absolutely," said Orange fan Jenci Lopez. "Knowing what we could be and what we are is very hard to see as a fan.” 

March Madness at this point is a long shot, marking the fourth season in a row Syracuse would miss the dance. 

“We were at the top, we were always one of those people where we would always go to the playoffs and stuff like that and now it’s just not that anymore, not saying that it can’t go back to that but at the moment it’s just not that and it’s sad to see," Lopez said. 

The frustration from the fanbase is showing in attendance. Syracuse always has one of the highest attendance rates in the country, including this year, averaging 18,762 fans a game. However, fewer than its 20,288 mark last year. A decade ago Syracuse’s average attendance was 23,854.

“It’s just the disappointment that we have that’s making us not want to go," said Lopez. 

But not everyone feels that way. 

“I just love going to the games it’s always fun, it’s always entertaining. I’ve gotten to know some of the guys," Aufsesser said. "It’s exciting to go still. You can definitely notice a downturn in enthusiasm and more criticism from certain fans but I think you gotta still remain hopeful.” 

There’s reason to be optimistic moving forward. The Orange have a great recruiting class coming in headlined by Sadiq White and Kiyan Anthony. They have good young players who could decide to stay. And in Adrian Autry’s first season as head coach, they won 20 games. 

“Going into next year, I think that’s going to be the new measuring stick, next year, can we improve with these two great high school kids and the four-person recruiting class we have thus far, can we add to it and can we make it happen," he said. 

“We’ll see, I have faith," Lopez said. 

“When we got into this league college was different," Autry said after Syracuse's Feb. 5th loss against Duke. "We gotta reshape this and get this thing going, and we will."