Fab Melo ineligible for NCAA tournament

Fab Melo, the Syracuse center, has been named as ineligible for the NCAA Tournament. This comes as a big blow to Syracuse's chances for any kind of a deep run. ESPN notes the following:

However, a source told ESPN.com's Dana O'Neil: "This is an academic issue related to the first suspension. He was initially cleared after the first suspension but the NCAA has since revisited the case and deemed him ineligible again."[...]

Melo, a 7-footer, was the Big East defensive player of the year and made coach Jim Boeheim's 2-3 zone defense a formidable one. He averaged 7.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and registered 88 blocks for the Orange, who spent a good portion of the season ranked No. 1 despite multiple off-court distractions.

If you were wondering as to how much of an impact it is for the Syracuse squad, they went 2-1 in his absence, losing only to Notre Dame.

The three games that Fab Melo missed?

Notre Dame 67, Syracuse 58 AT NOTRE DAME
Syracuse 60, Cincinnati 53 AT CINCINNATI
Syracuse 63, West Virginia 61 AT SYRACUSE

Even though Syracuse went 2-1 without him, the two wins were barely even wins at all. They almost LOST to West Virginia at home although the officials missed a goaltending call.