Syracuse (16-9, 7-7 ACC) will try to build off its upset of No. 7 UNC when it travels south to face off against Georgia Tech.

Opponent: North Carolina (10-15, 3-11 ACC)

Date & Time: Saturday, Feb. 13, 5:30 p.m.

Location: McCamish Pavilion, Atlanta, GA

TV: The CW

As the Syracuse program enjoyed celebrating the initial highlight victory of the Adrian Autry era Tuesday night over No. 7 North Carolina, it brings to mind the direction Autry would like to take the program - back to national relevancy.

Ten years ago this weekend, it was Syracuse that sat atop the national rankings with a 25-0 record after beating N.C. State 56-55 in the Dome in its initial ACC season. Now forward a decade later to this season coming off the UNC upset win and heading into the game at Georgia Tech, the coaches and players are setting their sights on a postseason berth, period, the first step back towards building an upward trajectory after missing out on the NCAA Tournament the last two years.

Under Its own first year head coach Damon Stoudamire, it is difficult to tell which Georgia Tech team the Orange will face on the Jackets homecourt. Is it the squad that beat both North Carolina and Duke, or the team that fell to Boston College and Notre Dame? Georgia Tech comes into the game off its second season loss to the Irish Wednesday night in South Bend 58-55, unable to complete a late comeback. Stoudamire spotlighted a lack of offensive rebounding (16-5 deficit) after the defeat, which in turn contributed to 20 Notre Dame second-chance points.

Junior guard Miles Kelly leads the Yellow Jackets in scoring (14.6 ppg), while freshman big man Baye Ndongo is right behind (11.8 ppg) and is the team's leading rebounder for a program that is trying to regain its own footing. Tech has made just one NCAA appearance (2021) over the same decade that the 'Cuse has been an ACC member.

After playing their best all around game of the season, including an aggressive return to the 2-3 zone defense, the Orange players know the rest of the season presents an opportunity that perhaps wasn't as clear before beating the first-place Tar Heels. If we didn't know better, the (barely) seven man rotation and zone Tuesday night looked a lot like Jim Boeheim-coached teams, with Autry adjusting perfectly to overcome a dwindling roster, defensive deficiencies, and shooting woes.

Still stuck at .500 in league play which places SU in the range of the dreaded No. 8 vs. No. 9 game in the ACC Tournament, there's just a half dozen contests left to play with SU the only conference team off the final regular season weekend (March 9). SU has split its six ACC games at McCamish Pavilion and off the momentum from beating UNC, along with some inside-outside scoring and decent defense, Syracuse will knock off Georgia Tech 73-65.

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