Syracuse basketball is a betting underdog as the Orange gets set to play at California on Saturday evening.
When I wrote this article around noon on Saturday, FanDuel had the 'Cuse as a 4.5-point underdog against the Golden Bears, with the over/under currently at 147.5 points.
By extension, ESPN Analytics forecasts that California has a 57.5 percent chance to prevail in this Atlantic Coast Conference clash.
The 'Cuse (9-12, 3-7 in the ACC) and the Golden Bears (11-10, 4-6 in the ACC) are scheduled to tip off at 10:00 pm EST from the Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, Calif. ESPN2 will televise this conference contest, with live-streaming coverage also available on FuboTV.
It's not particularly surprising that Syracuse basketball is a betting underdog on Saturday night. The Orange has lost three straight, and while the Golden Bears don't have an imposing overall record, they have fared better than the 'Cuse to date in the 2024-25 season.
Odds-makers don't anticipate a Syracuse basketball win at California.
At the time of this writing, Cal had an NCAA NET ranking of No. 118 overall, making this a quadrant-two affair for the Orange, which is No. 140 in the NET.
Per the NCAA's Web site, California is 9-3 at home so far in 2024-25. To that end, Syracuse basketball is just 1-5 in true road games this term, having beaten Boston College while losing to Tennessee, Notre Dame, Florida State, Clemson and, earlier this week, Stanford.
This past Wednesday night, as injured freshman power forward Donnie Freeman missed his seventh consecutive game, Stanford raced out to a 25-2 lead in the first half. The Orange would come storming back, but the Cardinal did prevail at home by a final count of 70-61.
Stanford, by the way, was a sizable betting favorite on its turf versus Syracuse basketball, and the Cardinal feasted on way too many turnovers committed by 'Cuse players in that league contest.
As I noted in another column this week, both the Orange and California are among the worst defensive groups in the ACC. Hopefully, the 'Cuse can get its offense going, but Syracuse basketball has to cut down on its miscues to knock off the Golden Bears on the road.