Syracuse men’s basketball vs Duke: TNIAAM predictions and poll

Do you believe in miracles? Ok that’s a bit of Heim-perbole to say but let’s face it the Syracuse Orange (15-13, 9-8) men’s basketball team are big underdogs as they prepare to face the Duke Blue Devils (24-4, 14-3). Are we all going to be #disloyalidiots for this one....let’s get to the predictions:

Kevin

Duke 85, Syracuse 79

I’ve seen this movie before. Syracuse team that has no business being in a game finding a way to use the Dome crowd to raise their play....but there’s no Hollywood Theatre ending in this one as Duke’s inside game is too much for the Orange to overcome. Jimmy Boeheim continues his strong play as he finds ways to keep Syracuse close throughout, but the Blue Devils dig in on defense (minus the floor-slapping) and hold off the upset bid.

Zeke

Duke 72, Syracuse 50

Coming off a 79-69 loss to Notre Dame on Wednesday, Syracuse now gets their hands on the number one ranked team in the ACC, the Duke University Blue Devils. Duke is coming off a 5 game win streak since losing to Virginia 69-68 February 7th. This is going to be a game the Orange realistically won’t be able to pull a W out of, especially considering Jesse Edwards was healthy last time these two teams matched up and we still lost by 20, This matchup could potentially get even uglier than the last

Michael

Duke 86, Syracuse 73

An optimist calls a pessimist a realist... and I’m just being realistic here. Have there been some major upsets over Duke in SU’s history? Absolutely. (I covered the top ones here.) But this Syracuse team is not in the same class as the 2016-2019 squads. They’re down the driving force of their offense, and a scorching hot Jimmy Boeheim doesn’t solve the defensive inefficiencies that have plagued this good scoring team all season long.

Szuba

Duke 85, Syracuse 69

A lot has to happen for Syracuse to beat a physically-imposing, more talented Duke team and although the Orange will be at home in front of a raucous crowd, it’s hard to unsee that first meeting at Cameron Indoor — one that featured Jesse Edwards and did not feature Trevor Keels, mind you. Buddy Boeheim, Joe Girard and Cole Swider all have to get going from three and Jimmy Boeheim has to score inside. The Orange have to rebound and Frank Anselem needs to have the game of his life against Mark Williams and Theo John. That’s asking a lot of Syracuse, but we’ll see who’s who in the zoo on Saturday.

Christian

Duke 84, Syracuse 70

Can Syracuse stop Mark Williams with no Jesse? Can Syracuse stop AJ Griffin and Duke’s perimeter shooters from making it rain at the Dome? Can Syracuse finally find some consistent offense? There’s too many questions that the Orange have to answer, and all of the potential pitfalls have to go SU’s way for them to win this game. All eyes towards a miracle run in Brooklyn now.

*****************************************************************************************************Those are our predictions now it’s your turn.....