Battle 4 Atlantis, Syracuse vs. Texas A&M: Official Predictions & Poll

The Syracuse Orange will try to win the 2015 Battle 4 Atlantis Championship and the only thing standing in their way is the Texas A&M Aggies. Both teams defeated ranked squads to get here. Which one will walk away with the ultimately-meaningless title?

Michael Burke

Texas A&M 80 - Syracuse 73
The Orange have been scoring a lot of points in transition recently, and they should have chances to do more of the same against Texas A&M. The Aggies rank 279th nationally in taking care of the ball, according to kenpom.com's offensive turnover percentage metric. But ultimately I expect Texas A&M, which has an overall effective field goal percentage of 61.7% this season, to score too many points for Syracuse to keep up.

Andrew Carey

Syracuse 72 - Texas A&M 65
The Orange leave Atlantis after knocking off two top 25 teams and are heading into a showdown with Wisconsin. Lydon is really coming into his own and Gbinije is solid as any point guard they have had over the past few years. I was really impressed with how they played against UConn and I think this team is ready to make some noise. Really would love to see more out of Kaleb Joseph, but he's not getting enough consistent minutes to get into a groove.

Kenny Lacy

Syracuse 79 - Texas A&M 70
Syracuse stays hot from the perimeter and Tyler Lydon continues his hot streak. The Orange will play a close game and pull away at the end and win the Battle 4 Atlantis and end up being ranked in the next poll.

Kevin Wall

Texas A&M 75 - Syracuse 70
Playing their third game in a row with a short bench should be tough for the Orange to overcome. A&M isn't known as a hoops school, but this is a very good team and Syracuse's turnovers are going to bite them at some point and this seems like the time.

Andy Pregler

Syracuse 78 - Texas A&M 70
The Aggies are solid as shown by their win against Gonzaga, but this feels like the Orange's game to lose. The team can grab a lot of confidence but still have plenty of teaching points before the game and I honestly feel that this team is going to show the nation why they're a top 25 squad by winning Atlantis.

Brian Pilatzke

Syracuse 68 - Texas A&M 65
Syracuse will have to clamp down on the Aggies who have been averaging over 85 points a game through their first six games. A&M is shooting is 53% from the floor and 46% from beyond the arc. Syracuse's zone must be on point to limit good looks for Texas A&M. The Aggies have their own 3 point shooting big man in Columbian Tonny Trocha-Morelos who is 11 for 14 from three point range. If Syracuse make Texas A&M take tough shots and be competitive on the boards, they will be able to hang with the Aggies.

Sean Keeley

Syracuse 76 - Texas A&M 74
I guess we just have to admit that Syracuse is unstoppable outside of the Continental United States. The UConn is one of those games we probably don't win last year and Tyler Lydon is a big part of that. If he, Cooney and Gbinije can continue to be the big three and if DaJuan Coleman can stay on the court, the Orange should be able to keep up with the Texas A&M scoring attack. Let's go win Atlantis.

How do you think it'll go?