The Syracuse Orange return to the Carrier Dome after dropping back-to-back road games, as they try to extend the nation’s longest home winning streak against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Monday night.
Let’s take a closer look at the betting odds for this Big
East Conference matchup on ESPN.
Falling into a pattern
Notre Dame has alternated wins and losses against the spread
in its last four games, as it comes off a 79-71 victory over DePaul as
six-point road favorites, while going OVER the posted total of 147.5. The Fighting Irish were led by senior Jack
Cooley in that affair, as he registered his 14th double-double of the season,
with 26 points and 16 rebounds. The
program has compiled a 14-3 straight up and 11-6 against-the-spread (ATS)
record in February the last two-plus seasons.
There’s no place like
home
Syracuse will be focused on avoiding its first three-game
losing streak in two years, as it suffered a disappointing 65-55 setback to the
Pittsburgh Panthers as 3.5-point road underdogs Saturday. The Orange have a great opportunity to get
back on track playing in the Carrier Dome, considering they own the nation’s
longest home winning streak at 35 games. Syracuse is 22-22 ATS at home the last two-plus seasons, with the UNDER
going 22-16 in that situation.
Quite a trend
Based on what the NCAA
Basketball odds boards are offering, the total seems to hold the most value,
considering the UNDER is on a 20-3 run when the Fighting Irish tip off as
underdogs since the 2010-11 campaign. Notre Dame is 3-2 ATS and has fallen below the betting total in all five
games as a road underdog of 6.5 to 9 points in that span.
Getting after it on
the defensive end
The Orange are definitely a much better team defensively
when playing in front of their home fans, as they’ve limited opponents to 34.7
percent shooting from the floor, including 28.1 from beyond the arc. Syracuse will certainly be tested in this
spot, with Notre Dame being one of the more efficient teams offensively in the
country—knocking down 49.3 percent of its field-goal attempts.
Prediction
I’m going to recommend that readers play the total as one of
their College Basketball picks Monday
night, as the UNDER is 6-0 in the Orange’s last six games as home favorites
of 6.5 to 9 points, while they’ve captured a victory in each of those
affairs. The Fighting Irish have fallen
short of the number in both tries on the road where the total was between 130
to 134.5.
NCAA
Basketball Pick: Under 134.5