Syracuse vs. Notre Dame Official TNIAAM Predictions & Poll

The Syracuse Orange (12-3, 1-1) head back to the Carrier Dome on Saturday with a chance to get back in the win column against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (12-3, (2-0). That chance also got a bit higher (theoretically) when we heard that ND would be without Bonzie Colson.

You can watch Syracuse vs. Notre Dame at 3:15 p.m. ET on ESPN2/WatchESPN, unless you’re catching the game in-person at the Dome, of course.

So what does the TNIAAM staff think will happen in this game?

Kevin Wall

Syracuse 73, Notre Dame 71

Let’s be honest for a second, if the Orange can’t beat an Irish team without Bonzie Colson and Matt Farrell in the Dome, then it’s going to be a long ACC season. Tyus Battle’s going to make amends for a subpar performance at Wake and get the Orange out to an early lead and the zone defense will contain the Notre Dame shooters enough to get Syracuse back on the winning track.

Ben Sigel

Syracuse 71, Notre Dame 67

SU caught a huge break with Farrell and Colson both being out for Saturday’s game. If they were to play, I would’ve picked the Irish. I think the Orange get back on track and get their second ACC win. SU will need to rebound better than the Wake game, and hopefully Frank can stay hot moving forward.

Andrew Godnick

Syracuse 71, Notre Dame 69

Hear me out on this. Yes, the Orange lost to a team that was one game over .500. And yes, the Syracuse offense looks lost in the half court; however, with Bonzie Colson out, Syracuse has a chance to score enough points to come away with a much needed win. Coming back home may give this Syracuse team the boost they need on offense. It starts with Tyus Battle getting back into his dominating ways, and a game winner over Notre Dame will do just that.

Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

Bobby Manning

Syracuse 68, Notre Dame 64

This has all the makings of a horrifically messy game. One being that it’s Syracuse, it’s a given with them this season. The other being that the Irish are without Colson, who scores about 25% of the team’s points per game and is the only player with a defensive rating under 90 on Notre Dame’s squad. The team’s success is almost completely centered around his two-way impact that’ll be absent for the foreseeable future, a brutal loss for a team with bad losses against Indiana and Ball State on top of a relentless schedule that sends them to the Dome, Duke and Clemson. That makes the Thorpe and Sidibe situations that have worn on Syracuse look like light weight.

This initially looked like a prime game for the Orange, now it’s one they have to win following a terrible loss at Wake Forest. Syracuse now drops 30 places from its three-points attempted rank (289) to its efficiency shooting outside (318). As the offense does less, the pressure grows on Battle, and it’s starting to wear on him with playing 40 minutes every night. The fouls against the Demon Deacons were worrisome, but if him and Howard approach normalcy and the defense holds at home the Orange should scrap this one out.

James Szuba

Syracuse 72, Notre Dame 69

I’ll give Syracuse the slight edge here given that Bonzie is out. The Orange should be better defending the three at home than it was down in Winston-Salem and Tyus should be better offensively. Still, Notre Dame becomes even more perimeter oriented and the Irish can shoot the ball. I think they’ll knock down enough shots to keep it close but Syracuse rebounds, both literally and figuratively, for the win.

John Cassillo

Notre Dame 74, Syracuse 71

I was ready to believe that Notre Dame’s offense would drop off a bit without Colson, but then I saw them dismantle NC State on Wednesday and now I’m not so sure anymore (yes, even without Matt Farrell too). Whether at home or away, SU’s prone to giving up at least a few open threes, and the Irish’s TJ Gibbs can certainly hit from outside. This isn’t me convincing myself that the Orange are bad. Or that NC State was good. It’s that the Irish may be better than we thought without Colson, and that could be a problem for Syracuse given the recent lack of defensive focus.

Now it’s your turn...