Even though North Carolina hasn't won a lot of games lately, the Tar Heels are a betting favorite versus Syracuse basketball on the road.
It's just the latest example of how much the 2024-25 season has proven a bummer for the Orange (11-14, 5-9 in the ACC), at least to date.
On Saturday, Feb. 15, the 'Cuse will host UNC (14-11, 7-6 in the ACC), with the tip-off scheduled for 6:00 pm and this Atlantic Coast Conference clash airing on ESPN.
When I wrote this article, FanDuel had installed North Carolina as a 5.5-point betting favorite at Syracuse basketball, with the over/under set at 155.5 points.
By extension, at the time of this writing, ESPN Analytics gave the Tar Heels a sizable 71.1 percent chance to knock off the 'Cuse this Saturday evening inside the JMA Wireless Dome. That's a tad stunning of a metric, to me, because UNC's overall record so far in 2024-25 isn't that much better than the Orange's.
Syracuse basketball's porous defense will be tested versus North Carolina.
At 80.0 points per contest, the Tar Heels are one of the higher-scoring squads in the ACC, which doesn't bode well for a 'Cuse defense that was simply awful earlier this week in a road loss to lowly Miami.
Heading into Saturday's encounter, the Orange is allowing 78.2 points per game. But to be fair, UNC's defense isn't good either, as the Tar Heels give up 76.6 points per affair. Yikes. The scoring defenses of both Syracuse basketball and North Carolina hover near the bottom of the league.
But UNC is currently No. 2 in the conference in points per game, while the 'Cuse scores 74.6 points per contest, good for No. 10 in the 18-member ACC.
The Orange, beginning Saturday against the Tar Heels, has six regular-season games left. For the time being, Syracuse basketball does appear to have a bit of a cushion in terms of being in the top 15 of the league standings, which would ensure that the 'Cuse qualifies for next month's ACC Tournament in Charlotte, N.C.
Of those half-dozen ACC encounters, the Orange will play three at the Dome and three on the road. SMU is currently the only future opponent of Syracuse basketball that resides in the top four of the conference standings.
So as much as 2024-25 has proven a struggle for the 'Cuse, the program does have some winnable games lurking on the horizon.