Syracuse basketball with sixth-best ACC odds to win the 2021 Big Dance
By Neil Adler
Syracuse basketball is getting odds of 100-1 to cut down the nets next spring, which isn’t too shabby among Atlantic Coast Conference groups.
It’s by no means a guarantee that a 2020-21 campaign for Syracuse basketball and its peers around the country will even get played amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
But if a season does occur, and there’s a March Madness sometime in the spring of 2021, then the Orange is receiving the sixth-highest odds at this juncture among Atlantic Coast Conference teams to capture the national championship. The ‘Cuse is at 100-1.
Per the CBS Sports article that cites odds from William Hill, the three favorites to win the 2021 NCAA Tournament, at 10-1 odds each, are Villanova, the ACC’s Duke and Gonzaga.
The Blue Devils last emerged victorious in the Big Dance back in 2015, although Duke is perennially a significant contender to make the Final Four, and that will hold true once again in 2020-21.
Big East Conference heavyweight Villanova claimed the grand prize in 2016 and 2018. Gonzaga consistently goes on deep journeys in March Madness and reached the title contest in 2017, where it fell to another ACC school, North Carolina.
The 2019 national champion, Virginia, is next up in terms of best odds to win it all, at 12-1, tying it with Big 12 Conference powerhouse Kansas.
As it pertains to ACC squads, Florida State is at 25-1, UNC is at 30-1, Louisville is at 40-1, and there’s a huge gap with Syracuse basketball checking in at 100-1.
This is unsurprising to me, since I’ve got Virginia, Duke, North Carolina, FSU and Louisville as my top five in the league, with a fairly large drop-off after that. I do have the Orange at No. 6 in the ACC as well.
After the ‘Cuse at 100-1, the remainder of the conference has pretty bleak odds to win the 2021 national title. Miami, a crew that some national and ACC pundits are high on entering this upcoming stanza, is at 200-1, the same odds as N.C. State, Virginia Tech and Notre Dame.
Georgia Tech and Clemson are both at 250-1. Pittsburgh is at 300-1. And at the bottom as far as odds go among ACC units are Wake Forest and Boston College, each at 750-1.
Oh, and since I know that you’re wondering, I’ll end with this little tidbit. Our favorite Georgetown Hoyas are at 500-1.