NEW YORK – Wednesday was a big day for many Syracuse fans, spanning from the outraged to the curious.

It was the debut of Syracuse’s new form-fitting uniforms. Since The Daily Orange broke the news about the new jerseys on March 1, SU fans have filled message boards and e-mail boxes with both complaints and questions.

The uniforms are a new style Nike is introducing to four teams – SU, Florida, Ohio State and Arizona – during the postseason. They feature tighter jerseys and baggier shorts.

SU debuted its home whites on Wednesday, which featured ‘ORANGE’ across the chest with silver names surrounded by orange trim. There were also silver streaks along the back shoulders. The shorts featured orange, white, blue and silver piping along with Syracuse’s logo and the player’s number.

‘I don’t pay much attention to the uniforms,’ Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said.

When senior Demetris Nichols heard Boeheim’s response, he shot back in jest.

‘He doesn’t care,’ Nichols said of Boeheim. ‘He’s been wearing the same for 30 years.’

The controversy surrounding the uniforms centered on the timing (SU switched 31 games into the season) and the style (the new uniforms are unorthodox). But it’s of little concern to Boeheim, who preferred to just talk about basketball.

‘I think I’ve actually seen this style once before a long time ago,’ Boeheim said. ‘The players like them. They look good, I think. But I’m not really involved in worrying about the uniforms too much.’

Roberts readyThe torn meniscus in Terrence Roberts’ left knee has been bothering him since he hurt the knee against Drexel on Dec. 19. For about the entire season since then, Roberts has gutted out the injury, although it has clearly affected his performance. The injury has especially hindered Roberts’ athleticism.

Even though he’s continued playing throughout the season, Roberts has never had to play on back-to-back days, like he’ll likely do today when SU plays Notre Dame at 2 p.m.

‘It’s going to be painful,’ Roberts said. ‘But it’s all mental now. I have to play through the pain and know what I can do, what I can’t do, and how to play through it. As long as I keep playing, there’s going to be pain.’

Syracuse has a chance to make a run to the semifinals or finals, like it’s done the past two seasons. If that’s the case, Roberts will have to play three or four days on a row on the torn meniscus.

‘Not really,’ Roberts answered when asked if that was a concern of his. ‘As long as we stay focused on what we need to do, we should be all right.’

Tournament talkAfter every March game – win or lose – there seems to be the requisite question about a team’s NCAA Tournament fate. The common perception was that Wednesday’s win unofficially clinched a Tournament bid for the Orange. Boeheim doesn’t think one game puts a team in or out, or at least he doesn’t declare so publicly.

‘The NCAA Tournament isn’t about winning one game,’ Boeheim said. ‘It never is, never has been. It’s what you do on the whole season.’

As Boeheim’s done the past week, he referred to SU’s 10 Big East wins and the historical precedent of no 10-win Big East teams ever on the wrong side of Selection Sunday.

‘We are in fifth place, fifth place in the league,’ Boeheim said. ‘How many teams are going to go from our league?’

Published on March 7, 2007 at 12:00 pm