Syracuse +34.5?

I know Notre Dame is good this year and Syracuse isn't, but 34.5?

Notre hasn't won by more than 26 all year.

[kyro]

Have they played a team as bad as Syracuse all year? I don't know, I'm just asking.

No, they haven't.

I'm sure they'll kick ass, but 34.5 seems extreme for practically any Div 1 school.

My guess is that the oddsmakers know that the Irish fans will bet a good Notre Dame team regardless of the spread.

[playersare]

[ QUOTE ]
Have they played a team as bad as Syracuse all year? I don't know, I'm just asking.

[/ QUOTE ]
doesn't look like it. only other team on ND's schedule that was significantly below .500 was Washington U, which they won by 19 on the road.

the orangemen are even worse this year, and the irish are at home. however, there's been very little movement on 34.5 since it was initially hung. and although cuse has only won one game this year, they have not been blown out by that margin this season, even at the hands of teams like FSU and UVA. betting the points is probably the better play.

[jedi]

You think Charlie Weis will run up the score on anyone? The Irish are already well regarded, they don't need to be running up the score. I think 34.5 is too much, I may place a bet on 'Cuse and I rarely bet on college sports.

[kyro]

[ QUOTE ]
You think Charlie Weis will run up the score on anyone? The Irish are already well regarded, they don't need to be running up the score. I think 34.5 is too much, I may place a bet on 'Cuse and I rarely bet on college sports.

[/ QUOTE ]

You can win by 35 and not run up the score. Hell, JoePa took his starters out before the first half ended at Illinois and it was a 56 point lead by then.

If I three team tease and take the Orange I have to look good at 44.5 don't I?

[humdinger]

I don't post here a lot, but I have thrown a few NFL bets down here, going something like 6-3. I haven't discussed any NCAA plays here at all, but Syracuse is by far the play here.

34.5 is a lot of points, of course. That's a good starting point.

But the real reason is...Navy.

Notre Dame played Navy last week. The week after playing Navy is always a tough week for all teams. Navy employs a lot of cut blocks, and just wears down a defense. Often the week after playing a physical Navy team, practice is worthless.

The best example of this (this year) is Stanford. Stanford is not a worldclass program right now, but they are a talented team. They are good enough to beat UCLA. However, one week after playing Navy, THEY LOST TO DIVISION TWO UC DAVIS.

In fact, nearly every team this year has lost straightup the week after playing Navy (I looked it up last night, I think only one team has won after playing Navy all year. However, I don't know how the ATS performance was).

Lastly, ND is a public team. Fading ND is rarely a bad idea.

hd

[MCS]

Interesting analysis. Thanks.

[jedi]

First quarter looking good for the Orange. It's now 2nd quarter 8 mins to go, 7-3 Domers. Here's hoping their offenese keeps stalling.