Notre Dame vs Syracuse CBB Hoops Handicapping
Unbeaten No. 2 Syracuse puts its record on the line on Monday, when it hosts Notre Dame at the Carrier Dome.
Unbeaten No. 2 Syracuse puts its record on the line on Monday, when it hosts Notre Dame at the Carrier Dome.
The Blue Devils are looking good and are probably getting better. They have won 5 straight but this is their first true road game of the season, which I think it significant given that their top player is a freshman.
Settling for a middling finish after running the table during the 2012 regular season, Notre Dame is hoping that the New Era Pinstripe Bowl can give their senior class a shot at going out in a blaze of glory.
The Stanford Cardinal have locked up a spot in the Pac-12 championship with the Oregon Ducks’ loss last weekend, but there’s still rankings and bragging rights on the line this week against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
This is a nice late season battle for both of these teams. Neither of these teams is in contention for the BCS Championship but these are proud programs who will be up to try and best the other.
The 23rd-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish have been winning plenty of close games of late, and one of their most tightly contested games on last season’s run to a perfect regular season came against the Pittsburgh Panthers, who they will again meet this weekend.
The Navy Midshipmen will take their tricky and effective option on the road to face a No. 25 Fighting Irish team that will look to destroy another one of America’s armed forces on Saturday in South Bend.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish may not be having the season they had in 2012, but they can find solace in one simple fact: They’ve been much better than their Week 9 opponent, the Air Force Falcons. On the year, Notre Dame is 5-2 while Air Force is just 1-6.
The latest chapter in the storied rivalry between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and USC Trojans will be written on Saturday when the teams face off in South Bend. Notre Dame came out on top in last year’s meeting, but haven’t beaten USC at home since 2001, losing five in a row to the Trojans in South Beach.
Notre Dame had a solid start to the season easily winning by 50 points, but they may have a tough time from a Purdue team from the Big 10, who easily won their season opener. Both teams are getting QB’s back from suspensions for this big game.
Even though both teams lost in some upsets last week each has a chance to get a double-bye in the Big East tournament. The Irish have won 3 straight against the Hoyas, but they are underdogs in this game and overall this season they are 5-4 facing ranked teams.
They are not a mid-major but Notre Dame may be the most surprising team in the top 25 right now.
Syracuse (20-0) is not on the top-ranked team in the nation, but they are off to their best start in school history and will be taking on a Notre Dame (11-8) squad that has lost 2 straight games and is only 3-3 in the Big East.
How will the Pittsburgh Panthers respond to a shocking loss this past week? Pitt was rolling along in the top ten before falling at home to unranked Wagner. The Panthers must put the pieces together quickly as they travel to South Bend to take on Notre Dame Tuesday night.
After gutting out an ugly 24-17 win last week at Wake Forest, Notre Dame travels to FedEx Field to take on Maryland. The Irish shut out the Demon Deacons in the second half last week to claim the win and move to 6-3 on the season.
Southern Cal had been dominating this match-up in recent seasons, until the Golden Domers exacted some revenge last season, pulling out a 20-16 victory.