PHILADELPHIA–Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim has no problem being the surprise guest in this year’s Final Four.

He had endured what many consider his most difficult season as a head coach in 40 years. In March 2015, the Syracuse program, which has self imposed a post season ban for the 2015 tournament, had 108 wins vacated by the NCAA, lost scholarships and Boeheim was suspended for nine games during the season.

After the Orange lost to Pitt, 72-71, in a second round Atlantic Coast Conference tournament game, Syracuse was 18-13, had lost five of six games and appeared to be sitting on a bubble that was about to burst. Boeheim, who felt his team deserved one of the 36 at large bids, made a desperate public plea. He suggested his team had “been punished enough” and that the committee should take into account his team’s 4-5 record without him.

Some members on the committee must have been listening to his prayer.

Syracuse, which had a less than impressive 72 RPI, received an unexpected reprieve on Selection Sunday, receiving a 10th seed to the Midwest Regional. They made the most of it. The Orange peeled off four consecutive victories, rallying from a 16-point second half deficit Sunday to defeat top-seeded Virginia, 68-62, in NCAA Midwest Regional championship game at Chicago and become the first 10th seed to ever make the Final Four.

“It was a great comeback, one of the best I’ve coached in, any team I’ve had, in terms of you’re playing a great team,” he said. “Virginia had dominated us, beaten us 15 points three straight times and they were 15 points up today. They’re a hard team to come back against and these guys just made some unbelievable plays. They deserved to win this game.”

The 71-year old Boeheim reconfirmed his Naismith Hall of Fame credentials by using a well planned full court press to force Virginia into 13 turnovers, their most of the tournament.The Orange dropped a 47 point bomb on the Cavaliers in the second half– the most any team had laid on the Cavaliers in 20 minutes this season. Syracuse scored nine consecutive shots to kill off a 13 point deficit, flipping the game from 55-43 Virginia to 64-58 in favor of the Orange.

This was Syracuse’s second comeback of the weekend. Just two nights earlier, the Orange rallied to beat Gonzaga in the Sweet 15 with a a 15-3 run. Against unflappable Virginia, they went on a 25-4 tear from 9:45 to play that rocked the Cavaliers’ ‘world.

It all seemed like a blur.

“From the time we started pressing to the end of the game, it seemed like 30 seconds,” Syracuse’s freshman guard Malachi Richardson said.

It was so epic that TBS announcer Kevin Harlan found himself battling a perpetual storm of outrage after he compared the comeback to the Easter ‘Sunday resurrection. “Back from the dead on Easter Sunday,” he said during the telecast.

It’s just a game, Kevin, not a religious miracle. You probably need to apologize quickly if you value your professional career.

With the dramatic victory, Syracuse advanced to a national semi-final match up against top-seeded ACC rival North Carolina– which defeated Notre Dame, 88-74, here at Wells Fargo to win the East Regional — Saturday night at the NRG Stadium in Houston. South second-seed Villanova will play West second-seed Oklahoma in the first game of the doubleheader.

The Orange are still dancing in large part because the confident 6-6 Richardson from Trenton, N.J. came to life at the right time. Richardson, who did not have a field goal in the first half and was chewed out by Boeheim in front of the team in the locker room, responded by scoring 21 of his 23 points in the second half and was named the regional’s Most Outstanding Player.

Richardson, wearing the same No. 23 Michael Jordan wore in the house that he built, scored 14 points in final 10 minutes as Syracuse staged a surge that will live forever in Orange folklore. Trailing 54-39, the Orange scored 25 of the next 29 points, including 15 in a row. Richardson took the game over, often taking the ball right at Virginia’s senior All American guard Malcom Brogdon, the ACC’s best on-the-ball defender. His driving layup gave the Orange a 59-58 lead with 5:47 remaining for their first lead since early in the first half. After Virginia guard London Perrantes missed a long three, Richardson nailed a deep three with 4:32. to send the Orange up four and then cupped his fingers around his eyes to form make believe goggles as he danced back on defense.

Richardson acted like he had x-ray vision. After he nailed one of his three three pointers, he turned to the thousands of Syracuse fans in the crowd at the United Center and hollered, “They can’t guard me.”
“I was hot,” he admitted later. “And whoever they had in front of me couldn’t stay in front of me.”
It was a new feeling for Richardson, who had been haunted by past disappointments in this building. Just last year, when he played in the McDonald’s East-West All America game, Richardson shot 0-for-6, missing five threes in an embarrassing 14 minutes. He was almost as bad against Gonzaga in the Sweet 16, missing 11 of 14 shots. Then, he got off to another invisible start against Virginia, shooting 0 for 5, committing two turnovers and turning Boeheim into a raging volcano.

“He’s been a second-half player,” Boeheim said. “First half, I took him out because he passed up a shot. He messed around with the ball and then he steps out of bounds. He was out of it. He needs to be aggressive. He needs to look for his shot. He can make big shots.”

The shots fell from heaven and lifted Boeheim to his fifth Final Four appearance.

It is hard to believe this was the same team that lost to one of the worst St. John’s teams ever in the Garden, started the ACC season with an 0-4 record and finished its season with a prolonged meltdown. But here they are, still standing, cutting down the nets and getting ready to move on.

“I mean, I thought we deserved to be in the tournament,” Boeheim said. “I wasn’t planning on getting to the Final Four. We tell the players, it’s one game. You play one game and if you can just win one game, you get another chance. They’ve done that.’