Syracuse basketball travels to Virginia Tech on Saturday afternoon, as the Orange looks to secure its third road victory of the 2024-25 season.
When I wrote this article, FanDuel had the Hokies (12-16, 7-10 in the ACC) as a 3.5-point betting favorite against the 'Cuse at home, with the over/under set at 145.5 points.
By extension, ESPN Analytics gives Virginia Tech a 53.8 percent chance to knock off Syracuse basketball on Saturday at the Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va.
The Orange (12-16, 6-11 in the ACC) has three regular-season games left. Syracuse basketball heads to Virginia Tech and then SMU before hosting Virginia at the JMA Wireless Dome in a week.
This past Wednesday evening, on the Hill, the 'Cuse solidified its position for a berth in the upcoming ACC Tournament in Charlotte, N.C., by defeating N.C. State, 74-60. That outcome would give the Orange a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Wolfpack.
On that topic, the 'Cuse only faces Virginia Tech once in 2024-25, so if Syracuse basketball can best the Hokies on the road, the Orange would also have a leg up on the Hokies as it pertains to the ACC Tournament, which this term only will include the top 15 schools out of the 18-member league.
Syracuse basketball has struggled on the road in 2024-25.
To date in the current campaign, the 'Cuse is just 2-7 in true road affairs, with wins in this category over Boston College and California. Candidly, many of the Orange's road setbacks haven't proven all that close, so let's see how Syracuse basketball fares on Saturday in Blacksburg.
Interestingly enough, at this juncture in 2024-25, the Hokies have a better road record than home one. Virginia Tech is currently 7-8 on its turf and 5-4 in true road encounters (along with 0-4 at neutral sites).
At the time of this writing, the Orange had an NCAA NET ranking of No. 140 overall. Virginia Tech, meanwhile, resided at No. 156 in the NET, making this a quadrant-three game for Syracuse basketball.
The 'Cuse, in 2024-25, is 5-2 in quadrant-three contests. Syracuse basketball is an awful combined 1-14 in quadrant-one/quadrant-two games, while the Orange is a perfect 6-0 in quadrant four.
Heading into Saturday's slate of ACC games, Syracuse basketball is tied with Notre Dame at No. 13 in the league standings. Virginia Tech is currently in a four-way tie for No. 9 in the conference.