It may be prohibited to place bets on in-state collegiate athletics in New York, but sports betting has taken college football by storm over the past few years. As we inch closer and closer to kickoff for Fran Brown’s inaugural season as head coach, betting lines have been released for Week One of the NCAA college football season.
For Syracuse’s opening week matchup against Ohio on August 31st, the Orange have opened up as 14.5-point favorites over the Bobcats according to DraftKings. The game is set to take place at 3:30 p.m. on the ACC Network.
Now this may not come as much of a surprise considering the buzz Syracuse football carries into the 2024 campaign. Aside from just bringing in Fran Brown from Georgia, SU’s program has been completely revamped from head to toe with new coordinators as well. Add in Kyle McCord, and there’s no reason why the JMA Wireless Dome wouldn’t be electrified in a Week 1 matchup against a Mid-American Conference (MAC) school.
But the Bobcats are nothing to sneeze at, either. Ohio is coming off its second 10-win season in a row, which is the first time in its program history. The Bobcats are also aiming to build on a victory in the Myrtle Beach Bowl against Georgia Southern, their fifth bowl victory in the past seven seasons. A program certainly on the rise would love to make some noise and shock the world in week one, especially on the road in the Loud House against Syracuse.
Back in mid-February, the odds were released for season win totals, which saw Syracuse slated at 6.5 wins. This news came with large amounts of criticism from Orange fans. However, the drastic turnover this program has seen leaves a lot of question marks for this upcoming season. SU can only hope to build on last season’s opener, which saw a trounce of in-state rival Colgate 65-0.
So all this chatter about this matchup and the spread begs the question: How will Syracuse perform in their Week One matchup? 14.5 points appears as a fair line, as the Orange took down the Bobcats 29-9 in their previous matchup in the Buckeye State back in 2021.
Then again, Tommy DeVito was still Syracuse’s quarterback then. Either way, there’s a whole summer ahead before this game kicks off, and a lot can change that would sway this line more and more as time passes. But, SU’s question marks and sky-high expectations make 14.5 a perfect line for a week one tilt.
