North Carolina vs. Syracuse Odds, Picks, Predictions College Basketball: Tar Heels Getting Too Much Credit
Boththe Syracuse Orange and the North Carolina Tar Heels seem to have corrected course following someearly season struggles. Who emerges from upstate New York with a covetedconference win Tuesday? Read on for ourNorth Carolina-Syracuse college basketball picks based on the top NCAAB odds.
NorthCarolina (14-6, 6-3) endured a pretty significant wakeup call when it tumbledout of the AP Top 25 after opening the year as the No. 1 team in the country.The Tar Heels have since stabilized but still haven’t been prime performers inroad games this season.
TheHeels head into a tough environment Tuesday to battle a Syracuse (13-7, 6-3)team that has faced a similar trajectory of improving its efforts after asluggish non-conference slate.
Will UNC again fail to meet expectations as aroad team?
Hereis our best North Carolina vs. Syracuse college basketball pick (odds via BetMGM; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).
Checkout our college basketball best bets for Tuesday and our Kansas State vs. Iowa picks!
North Carolina vs. Syracuse gameinfo
Date: Tuesday, Jan. 24, 9:00 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
Location: JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse, NY
North Carolina vs. Syracuseodds
North Carolina opened as a 3.5-point roadfavorite and has been bet up even further to -4.5 across our affiliatedsportsbooks. Around 64% of the money wagered on the spread has gone on the underdog,Syracuse.
The total opened at a lofty 150 points beforedecreasing slightly to range from 148.5 to 149.5 across our recommendedsportsbooks, with 60% of the money wagered on the total going Over.
Checkout our best March Madnessodds and Wooden Awardodds.
North Carolina vs. Syracusepick
Syracuse +4.5 vs. North Carolina (-105 via BetMGM) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thismatchup features two teams that have walked similar paths, stumbling in theearly non-conference slate before finding their footing as ACC play has movedalong. But for North Carolina, there’s still one thing the Tar Heels haven’tbeen able to solve: their poor play in road games.
NorthCarolina is 1-4 both outright and against the spread as a road team thisseason. Its only road win came against Louisville, which is arguably the worstPower Six team in modern college basketball - not exactly an accomplishment.
TheATS woes haven’t been isolated to road games for UNC; the Heels are also 1-3-1ATS in neutral-site games. That makes for a 2-7-1 ATS record in non-home gamesfor North Carolina, a concerning number for a team favored by 4.5 points on theroad against KenPom’s 81st-ranked team.
Granted,Syracuse hasn’t been a dynamite road team, either, but that simply doesn’tmatter for Tuesday night. Syracuse is 9-3 outright in home games this seasonand has lost only one game by the margin of Tuesday’s point spread since lateNovember, and that came at Virginia, a top-10 team. It’s been a different storyat home, where the Orange are 7-4-1 ATS on the season, having rebounded nicelyfrom an embarrassing mid-November home loss to Colgate.
North Carolina vs. Syracusebest odds
BetMGM (-105)
Mostof the betting board features an identical value on the Syracuse point spreadwith the Orange catching 4.5 points at all of our recommended sportsbooks. Fourof the five locations also feature standard -110 odds. The one that doesn’t isBetMGM, which lists Syracuse at -105 on the 4.5-point spread, making it thebest value for Orange backers.
Thisplay would be reduced to a three-star recommendation if it gets within a singlepossession at +3. For those looking for a more aggressive play on the hometeam, Syracuse is +165 on the Moneyline at DraftKings Sportsbook, BetMGM, and PointsBet.
North Carolina-Syracuse pick made01/24/2023 at 3:00 p.m. ET.
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