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Syracuse vs Vermont Line

The 1-seed Syracuse Orange of the West Region will meet up with the 16-seed Vermont Catamounts for the second time in the NCAA Tournament since 2005. In that year, Vermont pulled off the upset. But according to the odds, that isn’t likely to happen again. The books have installed a line of Syracuse -17.5 over Vermont.

Despite losing their final two games heading into the tournament, the Orange earned a 1-seed after an excellent season which saw them finished at 28-4 and 15-3 in Big East play. Syracuse won the Big East regular season crown, but were bounced in their opening game of the conference tournament, losing to rival Georgetown 84-91. Arizne Onuaku’s knee injury is certainly a concern for this team, and he’s listed as day-to-day though there’s a good chance he misses the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Syracuse was predicted to be a bubble team at the beginning of the season, but the emergence of Iowa State transfer Wesley Johnson really helped this team to the Big East regular season title. Johnson (16.0 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 1.9 BPG) won Big East Player of the Year honors for his efforts this season. But this is a balanced group, with five players averaging in double figures scoring in Andy Ruatins (11.7), Kris Joseph (11.2), Arinze Anuaku (10.50 and Rick Jackson (10.0). They usually go 7-deep, with Scoop Jardine (8.8) coming off the bench with Joseph and Brandon Triche (8.1) starting at guard. This team will certainly need to avoid foul trouble if they are to go deep into the tournament.

The Vermont Catamounts would love to repeat their 2005 upset of the Orange in the opening round, and become the first 16-seed every to beat a 1-seed. The Catamounts went 25-9 this season and 12-4 in the American East Conference, finishing in 2nd place during the regular season. But Vermont caught fire in their postseason tournament, winning three straight games all by 13 or more to join the field of 65. The Catamounts are led by star F Marqes Blakely (17.4 PPG, 9.4 RPG), who has a couple American East Player of the Year awards under his belt. Then there’s Maurice Joseph (14.1 PPG) who is the brother of Syracuse’s Kris Joseph, making for a very intriguing story line. Evan Fjeld is also a stud on this team, putting up 10.6 PPG and 6.1 RPG. But the Catamounts rely very heavily on this trio, and if any of the three are off their games then there’s a good chance Syracuse runs away with this one.