Louisville vs. Syracuse odds, line: College basketball picks, best predictions from expert who’s 4-0 on Cardinals games

The Syracuse Orange face a major challenge in their quest for a postseason bid when they host the Louisville Cardinals in a key ACC showdown on Wednesday night. Tipoff from the Carrier Dome is set for 7 p.m. ET. The Orange (17-8, 8-4) have had a solid season, but still need quality victories to secure a 2019 NCAA Tournament berth. They are 3-3 in their last six and look to rebound from a blowout loss at N.C. State on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Cardinals (18-8, 9-4) are looking to erase the memory of their epic collapse in a 73-71 loss to Duke after building a 23-point lead. They narrowly avoided a similar fate in a 56-55 win over Clemson on Saturday. The Orange are two-point favorites after the game opened as a pick’em, while the over-under for total points scored is 131.5 in the latest Louisville vs. Syracuse odds. Before you lock in your Louisville vs. Syracuse picks, listen to what SportsLine expert Mike Tierney has to say.

A veteran sportswriter whose work appears periodically in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, Tierney also has emerged as a consistently winning handicapper for SportsLine in all sports. He is having another solid college basketball season, hitting nearly 60 percent of his recent spread picks. Moreover, he has had a keen eye for these programs and has nailed four straight picks in games involving Louisville. Now, he has locked in on Louisville vs. Syracuse from every angle and locked in a pick that you can only see at SportsLine.

Tierney knows that most NCAA bracket analysts believe if the tournament started today, Syracuse would be safely included in the 2019 March Madness field. But fortunes are always subject to change, and it’s widely-held sentiment that this stretch of ACC contests will be the key to the Orange’s postseason resume. Following the Cardinals, Syracuse faces a visit from Duke in a payback spot before traveling to North Carolina. 

The Orange finish up by hosting Virginia and visiting Clemson in their ACC regular season finale. Most observers believe they need to win at least two of these contests in order to get an invite to the Big Dance. The good news is that Syracuse has matched up well with Louisville in recent outings and posted a 78-73 road win against the Cardinals last season. 

But just because Syracuse is in a prime motivation spot doesn’t mean it will cover Wednesday against a Louisville club that has plenty of incentive for a breakout performance.

For most of last Tuesday’s game, the Cardinals appeared headed toward duplicating Syracuse’s feat with a win over top-ranked Duke, only in dominating fashion. They appeared to catch Duke, off its win against Virginia, in a flat spot. They quickly built a double-digit lead with a clear edge in energy and efficiency in transition.

Louisville built a 23-point lead in the second half and was on its way to coasting to a signature win in its first year under coach Chris Mack. But the Blue Devils then caught fire while the Cardinals fatigued and faltered. Cam Reddish hit a pair of free throws in the waning seconds to give Duke the historic comeback victory.

Still, the Cardinals found a way to prevail Saturday against a tough Clemson club despite battling a predictable hangover spot from the Duke loss. The Cardinals again stumbled down the stretch after they appeared to have a win in hand, but Jordan Nwora blocked a potential game-winning shot as time expired.

We can tell you Tierney is leaning toward the under, but his much stronger play is on the side. He has unearthed the critical X-factor he believes will determine the winner and it’s only available at SportsLine.

Who wins Louisville vs. Syracuse? And what critical X-factor makes one side of the spread a must-back? Join SportsLine now to find out which side of the spread you need to jump all over Wednesday, all from the veteran handicapper who is 4-0 on Louisville picks.