Villanova vs Syracuse CBB Picks
Villanova has to be the most pleasant surprise in college hoops this season. Not only are they undefeated but they have beaten some very good teams including Kansas and Iowa.
Villanova has to be the most pleasant surprise in college hoops this season. Not only are they undefeated but they have beaten some very good teams including Kansas and Iowa.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers and Syracuse Orange will face off in the Texas Bowl on Dec. 27.
No team has surpassed expectations this season than the second-ranked Florida State Seminoles, who face another tough ACC foe on Saturday when they host the Syracuse Orange.
The Northwestern Wildcats were able to pull off a road victory at Cal in its season opener, but it came at a cost. Now the Cats’ will have to host a Syracuse team on Saturday without the possibility of two key offensive weapons.
The Penn State Nittany Lions will match up against the Syracuse Orange for the 71st time on the gridiron, as they open the 2013 season with a neutral-site game on Aug. 31, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
It wasn’t all that long ago that Syracuse was a pretty darn good program, led by players like Donovan McNabb and coaches like Dick MacPherson they more than held their own in the early days of the Big East.
But when they fell, they fell hard and it was difficult to put the pieces back together again.
The Orange were very impressive last week in earning their spot in the Final Four. They put forth two fantastic defensive games holding Indiana and Marquette to an average of just 45 points.
The Orange barely broke a sweat in beating Montana on Thursday. They may be a number 4 seed but they played like a one.
Despite being in the top 10 no one is talking much about Louisville these days. They are second in the Big East and depending on how things break they could wind up winning the conference and earning a top seed. They have won their last 4 games but have not played a top team in a while.
Syracuse lost at home to Georgetown on Saturday, dropping them from the top of the Big East standings.
In a scheduling quirk the Orange did not play at all during the week this week. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing when you have a monster of a game on the road to play.
This is Syracuse’s swansong in the in the Big East Conference before joining the ACC (booh). That is a lot of history on the way out which is kind of what happened to the Orange at the end of last season too.
When Syracuse was 0-2 with a close loss to Northwestern and a relatively impressive performance against USC some were thinking the program is finally getting back to some solid footing before it bolts to the ACC.
Going back to last season Syracuse has lost 5 straight games and to avoid making it 6 in a row they will have to come up with a huge upset over USC.
It seemed Syracuse had entered the national stage when they dominated nationally-ranked West Virginia 49-23 last year in October. The win took the team to 5-2, and they looked like a team that could win the Big East. Instead, Syracuse confusingly lost its last five games to go 5-7 and miss out on a bowl berth.
The Ohio State Buckeyes played a very interesting game to make it to the East Regional final.
#2 Ohio State Buckeyes (30-7) vs #1 Syracuse Orange (34-2)
Saturday March 24
East Region – Boston, MA
7:05PM
Moneyline: Ohio State -150, Syracuse +140
Spread: Ohio State -3
O/U: 136
Ohio State
Against Cincinnati they looked pretty good early, horrible in the middle then finished strong.
Strong enough that they are now the favourites against the region’s #1 seed.
I find this result interesting. Does it mean that Cincinnati is very good because that is not what I saw Thursday night.
Should be a very competitive game.
Against Cincinnati it felt like the Buckeyes were always controlling the action. I didn’t realize it at the time but they scored 14 more points at the foul line.
Aaron Craft was super disruptive on the perimeter both on his man and others. The Bearcats are not blessed with playmakers on the perimeter so I think their defense will be challenged more against Syracuse which can avoid Craft’s presence a little easier.
Jared Sullinger and Deshawn Thomas both played well, when that happens this team gets all the scoring it needs.
Syracuse
It is a #1 vs #2 matchup but can’t remember the last time a #2 seed was the favourite. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Against Wisconsin I thought the Orange played pretty well and lets not forget that Ohio State lost to those same Badgers, on their own homecourt, in a game they needed for the Big 10 regular season championship.
Being a #1 seed doesn’t mean you have to trounce teams.
I have been fading Syracuse a bit this year but I love this team as the underdog.
On Thursday night the Badgers were awesome shooting from deep but the Buckeyes do not present the same challenge.
I am curious to see how the zone affects Jared Sullinger because when you can neutralize him the OSU offense can be pretty ordinary.
I am expecting another good game from Dion Waiters tomorrow. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if they have to put Craft on him to slow him down.
Spread Pick: Syracuse +3
O/U Pick: Over
Score Prediction: Syracuse 72 – Ohio State 70