Later this month, Syracuse football will take a trip to the Big Apple to square off against Big Ten Conference member Minnesota in the 2022 Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl.
Since late November, when the Orange won on the road at Boston College to wrap up its 2022 regular season at 7-5, a lot has transpired, to say the least. As is to be expected, a handful of ‘Cuse players has hit the NCAA’s transfer portal.
Offensive coordinator Robert Anae took the same position at N.C. State. On the same day, news broke that defensive coordinator Tony White is taking on the same role at Nebraska.
Syracuse football quarterbacks coach Jason Beck has been promoted to offensive coordinator, while defensive passing game coordinator Nick Monroe is the Orange’s interim defensive coordinator, according to his bio on cuse.com.
It will be interesting to see how the Orange fares versus the Golden Gophers (8-4) amid all of these shufflings of the Syracuse football coaching staff. Minnesota, by the way, finished in a tie for second place within the Big Ten’s West division.
Best Syracuse football bets in Pinstripe Bowl
Here’s what I like (or don’t like) from a betting perspective as the Orange heads to the Big Apple to play Minnesota in the Pinstripe Bowl, which will kick off at 2 pm on Thursday, Dec. 29, from Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, N.Y. ESPN will televise this contest.
Take the ‘Cuse to cover the spread
When I wrote this column, actionnetwork.com had installed the Orange as a 7.5-point betting underdog against the Golden Gophers.
I predicted in another recent piece that Minnesota is going to defeat the ‘Cuse. I know, I’m a disloyal Syracuse University alumnus. However, while I am forecasting the Orange to fall to the Golden Gophers, I do think that this will prove a closely fought affair.
New York City in late December could be quite chilly. We may see a ton of rushing attempts from both teams, and this could end up a low-scoring battle. I’ll go with Syracuse football to cover that 7.5-point spread.
Go with the under
Actionnetwork.com, at the time of this writing, had set the over/under at 42.5 points. I mentioned directly above that this Pinstripe Bowl could be a low-scoring game, so I’m leaning toward the under here.
In the 2022 regular season, according to ESPN statistics, the Orange averaged 28.3 points per contest and allowed 22.7 points per affair. The Golden Gophers also averaged 28.3 points per meeting, while giving up just 13.3 points per encounter (a data point that is in the top five across the country).
Additionally, Minnesota has an elite rushing attack, averaging a whopping 218.4 yards per game on the ground, which is good for No. 11 nationwide. Syracuse football, naturally, has star running back Sean Tucker, who put forth his second 1,000-yard rushing season in a row during the 2022 stanza.
Now, we’ll have to wait and see whether any Orange or Minnesota players opt out of this bowl game due to professional aspirations or other reasons. Multiple Syracuse football guys have entered the transfer portal.
As we’ve discussed, the ‘Cuse has also seen a variety of excellent players suffer season-ending injuries throughout the 2022 campaign. And the Orange’s coaching staff is, to reiterate, undergoing some changes.
With all of this as context, I am looking into my (often wrong) crystal ball, and I project a low-scoring, bruising bout. Go with the under.
Avoid the moneyline altogether
As far as the moneyline goes, actionnetwork.com had it at -300 for Minnesota and +240 for Syracuse football. This is a straight-up bet, with no spread involved, so it really boils down to which team you think is going to prevail in New York City later this month.
For the Golden Gophers, a $300 bet would net you $100 (or some denomination of that). For the Orange, a $100 bet would win you $240. I believe that the ‘Cuse is going to lose to Minnesota, but if I were a betting man (and I’m not), I don’t think I would want to fork over $300 to collect $100.
Betting $100 (or a denomination of that) to land $240 is certainly more appealing, however, I simply don’t foresee Syracuse football picking up a victory in the Big Apple. As such, I wouldn’t go with a moneyline bet for either squad.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.