Indiana hasn’t covered many spreads lately and they have haven’t covered many as a favorite or in the tournament bracket.
Indiana Hoosiers vs. Syracuse Orange odds preview: Sweet 16 betting matchup
Indiana has struggled against the spread lately but oddsmakers still have them as 5.5 point favorites in East Regional betting odds against the Syracuse Orange.
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So even though they are favored by 5.5 points over a mercurial Syracuse team Thursday in the East Regional semifinal, bettors are treading lightly, according to the March Madness consensus data.
The Indiana Hoosiers are riding the following trends: 1-5 ATS in March Madness, 2-6 ATS overall and 1-6 ATS as a favorite. For their part, the Syracuse Orange are 0-3 ATS in their past three tournament games as an underdog.
However, Indiana is still a favorite to make the natonal title game and have two of the top three players listed in Most Outstanding Player odds.
To review, Syracuse went 12-1 through a weak non-conference slate this season, then started 6-0 in Big East play. But the Orange then struggled through the last six weeks of the regular season, going 5-7, finishing tied for fifth place in the conference at 11-7.
But the Orange regained a little life in the Big East Conference tournament, beating Pitt and Georgetown before falling to Louisville in the title game.
See March Madness odds on every game along with matchup data and trends
Fourth-seeded Syracuse then began this NCAA tournament with an 81-34 demolition of Montana last Thursday, then topped Cal Saturday 66-60 to reach the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in the last five seasons.
Indiana also went 12-1 through non-con play this season, with wins over Georgetown and North Carolina, then proceeded to go 14-4 in Big Ten play to win its first conference regular-season title since 2002. But the Hoosiers then fell to Wisconsin in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.
Despite that early exit, Indiana earned the top seed in the East for the Big Dance. The Hoosiers then opened with an 83-62 win over James Madison last Friday, following that up with a tough 58-52 victory over Temple Sunday to reach the Sweet 16 for the second straight season.
So far this season the Orange are 9-8 SU but just 6-11 ATS versus teams that made the NCAA tournament, including last week’s tourney games.
Indiana is 11-6 SU but only 7-9-1 ATS versus tournament teams this season.
