SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Jim Boeheim paces back and forth along the sidelines of the Carrier Dome basketball court that bears his name, watching Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins work the guards at one end and associate head coach Bernie Fine instruct the big men under the other basket.

Soon the Orange are scrimmaging and Boeheim interrupts when he sees something he doesn't like. Then he backs off, watches some more, and keeps on teaching.

In his 33rd year as head coach at his alma mater, his Orange (22-8) are a team to be reckoned with again.

Almost unnoticed is the coach's milestone: Boeheim has notched his 31st 20-win season, a Division I record.

"It's unbelievable," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. "It just tells you how consistent his program has been."

The Orange's 64-year-old Hall of Fame coach seems more at ease than he was a year ago, when injuries forced Boeheim to start three freshmen for the first time in his coaching career and his team failed to make the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row.

Syracuse, currently ranked No. 25, has been as high as eighth in the AP Top 25, and an NCAA tournament berth seems a certainty for a team in the upper echelon of the rugged Big East.

Any real vocal sessions this season have happened at practice or behind closed doors, not so much on the bench during games.

"He'll have his moments where he has his tirades, but he's always been a great communicator," Hopkins said. "He knows how to push the buttons. Sometimes it's yelling and sometimes it's not. He's a master at pushing the buttons and getting those guys to do what he wants them to do."

Syracuse has 38 straight winning seasons, the longest active streak in Division I, and ranks fifth all-time in Division I wins with 1,747, behind only Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas and Duke.

Boeheim has 793 of those victories in 1,079 games, and the Orange's victory over St. John's on Feb. 24 was special. It moved Boeheim one rung above every other coach in the history of Division I for most seasons with at least 20 wins.

Boeheim entered the season tied with Dean Smith for the most 20-win seasons at 30. Bob Knight and Lute Olson each have 29, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski is tied with Eddie Sutton and Jerry Tarkanian at 25, and Connecticut's Jim Calhoun has 23. Krzyzewski (828 wins in 34 seasons) and Calhoun (801 in 37 seasons) have more wins, but they've been on the job longer.

"I just think he's a coach's coach, and loves the game and shows commitment to high standards," said Krzyzewski, who selected Boeheim as an assistant on the U.S. Olympic team that won the gold medal last year in Beijing.