SYRACUSE, N.Y. — There is nowhere else like here on a night like this.
The flakes softly falling outside, reflecting soft hues of light off the snow-covered ground on the walk up the hill toward the Dome past the Hall of Languages.
The band playing as thousands of people find their seats at one end of a football stadium that houses more college basketball fans than any other arena in the land.
The energy rising as defensive stops turn to dunks, and the Dome's depth perception forces opposition airballs, and the fans feel like they're truly making these plays with the Syracuse players on the floor representing this slice of Central New York.
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Modern college sports are so different. The majority of minutes played by SU players on Tuesday night against No. 13 Tennessee were played by transfers. Fans have a much tougher time attaching to a team, because for the first half of a season, there's a lot of, "Who's that guy again?"
But this Tuesday night, the second day of December at Syracuse University in the JMA Wireless Dome, is the night that this season's edition of the Orange grew up to resemble so many of the past units.
Gritty. Clutch. Energetic. Enlivened by a rowdy fanbase that lives for these cold, snowy, beautiful basketball nights.
The big wins have come around a little less frequently in recent years. Jim Boeheim is a commentator now, no longer a coach. The recruiting trail hasn't been quite as fruitful, and it's not always easy to convince a transfer to come play in a winter wonderland.
But the guys who are here, who made this decision, who wanted to play for the Orange: They found out just how special it can be on Tuesday night.
Every punch Tennessee had, Syracuse answered.
In the first half, it was all Nate Kingz, scoring 15 of SU's first 25, a lefty sharpshooter and slasher all in one.
All throughout, it was William Kyle III, swatting shots and making just enough free throws as the crowd willed his awkward stroke to work.
Kiyan Anthony and Sadiq White, the two uber-talented freshmen, each made key plays.
And down the stretch, Syracuse put the ball in J.J. Starling's hands. The kid from Baldwinsville just down the road, who went to Notre Dame first but was destined to come home to SU, made the clutchest buckets of the night to deliver a 62-60 victory.
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This was a vintage Syracuse basketball night.
And when the final buzzer sounded, fans stormed the court. It felt like a night that could be the springboard to a brilliant season ahead. But really, it felt like so many before it.
The faces change, now more than ever. But the place, the character of Syracuse, doesn't change.
The snow is still outside. The campus still glistens in the winter. The Dome still looms, beckoning the faithful to come inside to the service.
And on the nights this campus on a hill was made for, the Orange put on a show that those in attendance will never forget.
This was one of those nights, and there's nowhere else where it feels quite like this.
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