It’s time to continue our College Basketball odds series with a Syracuse SMU prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Syracuse SMU.
The SMU Mustangs are still on the bubble, but they are running out of time and chances to make a significant impression. Moreover, the Mustangs just endured a very difficult and painful bubble loss to Stanford which pushed them downward while other bubble teams such as Xavier and Boise State are moving upward. SMU is definitely on the wrong side of the bubble at this point. The Mustangs, if the season ended today, would not be in the NCAA Tournament. However, with four or five more wins in the next two weeks — meaning that the Ponies win at least two games at the ACC Tournament, possibly three — there is still a chance for them to get in. They aren’t finished, but they have a very small margin for error at this point.
Here are the Syracuse-SMU College Basketball Odds, courtesy of FanDuel
College Basketball Odds: Syracuse-SMU Odds
Syracuse: +12.5 (-110)
Moneyline: +580
SMU: -12.5 (-110)
Moneyline: -880
Over: 156.5 (-110)
Under: 156.5 (-110)
How to Watch Syracuse vs SMU
Time: 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT
TV: ESPNU
*Watch college basketball LIVE with fuboTV (Get Access | Save $30)*
Why Syracuse Will Cover The Spread/Win
The spread is over 12 points. Syracuse can cover without playing a great game. The Orange just have to play at a C-plus or B-minus level. If they do that — instead of playing at a D or F level — they should be able to stay close enough to cover against an SMU side which just lost to Stanford and is showing the full extent of its limitations. If a team can’t make the NCAA Tournament in a year when the bubble is as weak as it has ever been, that shows how ultimately mediocre and ordinary that team is. SMU isn’t a bad team, but it isn’t especially strong, either. Syracuse can at least compete here. It might not win, but it won’t get wiped out.
Why SMU Will Cover The Spread/Win
Facing SMU on Tuesday night is Syracuse. The Orange are laboring under a second-year head coach who is not inspiring a lot of confidence on the job. Adrian Autry had the unenviable task of following Syracuse program icon Jim Boeheim. While no one should have ever expected Autry to have Syracuse in the hunt for Final Fours or ACC championships, the basic expectation was to have Syracuse — a basketball school — in the NCAA Tournament on a consistent basis. That is not asking too much. Yet, Syracuse is nowhere close to the Big Dance and has not been able to steadily improve over the course of the season. One basic revealer of coaching competence is that both the full roster and individual players develop over the course of the season. We have not seen that up and down the Syracuse roster. Autry is not earning good marks in player development and cultivating skills. Syracuse is stagnant, and against an SMU team which — for all its flaws — dependably beats up on bad teams, the Orange are in real trouble.
Final Syracuse-SMU Prediction & Pick
Our lean is to SMU, but with a spread this large — and given what we just saw from SMU in the loss to Stanford — we don’t feel fully confident in trusting our money with the Mustangs. We advise you to wait for a midgame live play, maybe after halftime.
Final Syracuse-SMU Prediction & Pick: SMU -12.5
The post Syracuse vs SMU prediction, pick, college basketball odds appeared first on ClutchPoints.
