Ohio State vs. Syracuse Spread at Buckeyes -3
Matt Skinner here with your Ohio State vs. Syracuse spread where the Buckeyes are a -3 point favourite. You can find all of today’s NCAA Tournament betting odds at Belmont.com. Receive FREE CASH of 25 percent on your initial deposit. Learn More Here.
For the most part, everything followed the script in the East Region of this year’s NCAA Tournament as there was only one upset with a lower seed coming out on top when #6 Cincinnati beat #3 Florida State in the Round of 32. The Bearcats fell to 2nd ranked Ohio St in the Sweet Sixteen, setting up a #1 vs. #2 matchup for the East Regional crown.
Belmont line and total: Ohio State -3 and 136
Here we have another lower seed laying points in this game, but this is less of a surprise given that Ohio State has been ranked in the Top 10 all year and has one of the best players around in Jared Sullinger. Sullinger put in 23 points in the win over Cincinnati and combine that with Deshaun Thomas’ 26 and this team just buried the Bearcats down the stretch. That is without even mentioning the great defense of Aaron Craft and his ability to control the offense when Ohio State has the ball. He is one of the smartest players in the country, and the Buckeyes will need all of those wits to decipher the zone defense that Syracuse runs so well.
The ‘Cuse have narrowly escaped with wins in two of their three games this tournament and cannot look to scrape by on talent alone against this Ohio State team. They may actually be less talented individually without Fab Melo and that means they need to rely on and trust the system that they use. They are 2-8 ATS in their last 10 games overall and that includes a 1-5 ATS mark on neutral floors. Containing Sullinger in the middle of that zone will be the biggest priority for guys like Kris Joseph and Rakeem Christmas and I don’t think they will have all the answers.
Even if they can stop Ohio State from breaking down their zone, the Buckeyes have a plethora of 3-point shooters and we all saw how Wisconsin used that method to almost knock off the Orange. Ohio State is 7-3 ATS in their last 10 on neutral floors and after beating Cincinnati are now 5-2 ATS in their last seven against Big East teams dating back a few years. They are just too deep and talented for this Melo-less Syracuse team and should pull away in the final 5 minutes or so.
Take Ohio State in this game.
- Matt Skinner, Gambling911.com
