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After a two year absence, the Syracuse Orange are back and looking solid in this year's NCAA Tournament. The Orange Men were seeded third. Their odds of winning the 2009 NCAA Tournament were set at +1500 at Sportsbook.com for a potential payout of $1500 on every $100 bet.
"We're so pleased to be back in the tournament," Boeheim said after watching the selection show at his home with the team. "You don't realize how much you miss the tournament until you miss it. It's great for these guys. They were tremendously disappointed the last two years."
Since the Orange won the national championship in 2003, they have gone 2-3 in three NCAA tournaments.
In November, the Orange beat Kansas, seeded third in the Midwest, and won at Memphis, the second seed in the West, in December.
Against the upper echelon of the Big East, which has three No. 1 seeds in the tournament, Syracuse was: 0-2 against Louisville, the No. 1 seed in the Midwest and the top-seeded team in the tournament; lost both games of a home-and-home series with Villanova, the No. 3 seed in the East; lost at Pittsburgh, the top seed in the East; lost at Connecticut, the No. 1 seed in the West; and beat No. 21 Marquette, the sixth seed in the West, on the road.
Cleveland State, seeded 13th in the Midwest, handed the Orange their first loss of the season in mid-December on a 60-foot shot at the final buzzer in the Carrier Dome.
"Only a handful of teams have better odds of winning the Final than Syracuse," Don Shapiro of Gambling911.com said. "Obviously the top seeded teams have single digit odds but second-seed Memphis had +1500 odds at some online sportsbooks as well and this is a team many said should have been a number one seed."
"Sleep deprivation hurt one of the hottest teams in the country during the Big East tournament. Now that the Orange has had time to rest after playing seven OTs in the conference tourney, it is a dangerous squad," The Star Tribune suggests.
Syracuse Orange 2009 NCAA Tournament odds along with all other March Madness betting was available at Sportsbook.com
Tyrone Black, Gambling911.com
