Even The ACC Mascot Game Is Without ‘Cuse

With the Syracuse Orange serving their self imposed ACC tournament suspension, the men's basketball team will not be playing in this year's ACC tournament.  Apparently the suspension counts for mascots as well.  Longtime Orange mascot, Otto the orange, was left out of the ACC tournaments mascot game in which mascots representing each school in the conference come together for a pickup basketball game.

With Syracuse serving their suspension there is barely any reference to Syracuse at the ACC tournament.  It is definitely an odd sight for not only Syracuse fans, but basketball fans in general.

The game itself took place during halftime of the North Carolina vs. Louisville quarterfinal game.  Mascot's included were Duke's Blue Devil, Rameses of North Carolina, and Louie the Cardinal from Louisville along with the rest of the ACC mascots.  Out of the 15 mascots in the conference, Otto was the only one left out of the game.

Who would have thought that even a mascot would apply to the consequences handed down to the team by the NCAA?  Perhaps the issue of the team not being there is why the school would go ahead and not send a mascot to play at halftime during a quarterfinal game, or the ACC said no to the mascot coming at all, but either wayit looks as though everyone from the team, to the coaches, to the fans, and even the mascot are suffering from the latest sanctions handed down by the NCAA.