Louisville Cardinals vs. Syracuse Orange
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Just a few weeks ago, the Louisville Cardinals (19-11, 9-16 ATS) were in dire need of a huge victory to boost their NCAA Tournament status. They nailed down the win on the road at the expense of the Syracuse Orange (28-2, 19-7 ATS), who are now the #1 team in the country. These two teams will meet for the second time in college basketball betting action this season on Saturday afternoon. The Cards still probably need another victory to lock up a spot in the dance, while the ‘Cuse haven’t been beaten since that Louisville game and look good to be a #1 seed when the brackets are released a week from Sunday.

Syracuse is a slight underdog in this game in spite of its top ranking in the country. The Orange is also a perfect 8-0 SU away from the Carrier Dome this season, which makes the college basketball spread all the more puzzling. HC Jim Boeheim’s boys have one of the most prolific offenses in the country. F Wesley Johnson (15.6 points per game) leads an offense which is scoring 81.8 points per game (#5 in the country) and is shooting a lights out 51.8% from the floor on the year (#1 in the country).

Louisville’s defense did a fantastic job keeping that potent Syracuse offense down in the first meeting of these two Big East heavyweights. It’s a unit that has had its ups and downs this year, though. The Cards are allowing 69.7 points per game this year, but they’re also a squad that has given up at least 75 points in six of their L/14. The ‘D’ needs to stay consistent if “The Ville” is going anywhere in March Madness. Leading scorer F Samardo Samuels (15.5 points per game) is doing his job on the offensive side of the court, but he and G Edgar Sosa (12.9 points per game) are the only two Cards averaging double digits in scoring this year.

The Orange is a stellar 9-1 ATS in their L/10 road games. However, for whatever reason, the Cardinals have just had their number over the years. Since 1998, Louisville owns a 6-1-1 ATS advantage over Syracuse, including what has amounted to five consecutive SU victories.

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