Syracuse Orange vs Duke Blue Devils betting odds, prediction, trends, preview

The Syracuse Orange are a perfect 20-0 in the 2013-14 season so far and almost guaranteed against the spread too.

They’ll face one of their toughest tests of the season and try to remain undefeated Saturday when they host the Duke Blue Devils at the Carrier Dome.

Syracuse is a 2.5-point home favorite according to college basketball betting lines monitored by OddsShark.com. And bettors who have backed the Orange as favorites have been profiting handsomely as they are 13-1 ATS in their past 14 games as chalk.

Relying heavily on their big four of C.J. Fair (16.7 points per game), Trevor Cooney (13.2 PPG), Jerami Grant (12.4 PPG) and Tyler Ennis (12.3 PPG), the Syracuse Orange have been a dominant force through the first three months of the college basketball season.

In addition to a 20-0 SU record, the Orange are 13-3 ATS including a current run of 13-1 ATS with six straight wins and covers. The Orange’s stingy defense allows just 57.8 points per game, good for sixth best in the nation.

That Syracuse defense will have to be at the top of its game on Saturday with the Duke Blue Devils coming to town. Freshman sensation Jabari Parker leads the team with 18.8 points per game and 8.1 rebounds per game while Rodney Hood has chipped in 17.4 PPG to lead the Blue Devils to 81.5 PPG this year.

Since starting the season off with an 0-3 SU and ATS record on the road, Duke has settled down with a 2-0 SU and ATS record over its last two road games and a 4-0 SU and ATS record over its last four games overall (per closing spreads at 5Dimes.eu).

Over the course of Syracuse’s last eight games, the total has gone UNDER seven times. Duke has also trended towards the UNDER over the last couple of months at 9-5-1 in its last 15 games.

This will be the first meeting between Duke and Syracuse since the two teams met back in 1998. With Duke ranking 20^th in the nation on offense and 61^st in defense and Syracuse ranking 189^th on offense and 6^th in defense, these two teams clearly take a different approach to the game.

The team that is able to dictate the tempo of the game should be the one that comes out on top, and it should be a fun one to watch.

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Prediction: 70-65 Syracuse

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