Online Sports Betting – Big East Rivals Face Off In The Nation’s Capital

Two longtime Big East rivals will go head-to-head on Saturday in the nation’s toughest conference, and the duo of Syracuse and Georgetown have been as hard to handicap as anyone in the country because just when you count them out or think they’re on a roll, the opposite happens. They’ll try to put their inconsistencies aside for this massive matchup. Here’s an online college basketball sports betting preview:

Syracuse Orangemen @ Georgetown Hoyas

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Saturday, February 26th – 12:00 PM ET

Verizon Center, Washington, DC

Broadcast: CBS

Online College Basketball Sports Betting Odds

The Orangemen have won three straight, including a tough five-point win in an ugly game at Villanova, but they’re not going for style points at this point in the season.

The Hoyas have dropped two of their last three, and even a win at South Florida wasn’t encouraging. Georgetown won 64-56 at Syracuse on February 9th, but they’ll go into this game without Chris Wright, who had surgery on a broken hand.

Online College Basketball Sports Betting: What Syracuse Has To Do To Win

The Orangemen have to execute better late in the game, which they failed to do in the first meeting, and they have to be better on the boards as Syracuse was outrebounded 28-21. Rick Jackson had foul trouble for most of the game, and if he is on the floor he helps the Orangemen on the glass.

The Hoyas will be without their second-leading scorer in Wright, who also runs the show from the point, so this is a great matchup for the Syracuse 2-3 zone, which has been all over the place this season, but when it’s on, the Orangemen are a tough team to beat.

Finally, they need Kris Joseph to step up and be the leader that everyone expected him to be this season. The forward has to assert himself early on.

Online College Basketball Sports Betting: What Georgetown Has To Do To Win

The Hoyas desperately need someone to step up for the injured Wright, preferably Jason Clark, because we know the Orangemen are going to dare Georgetown to beat them from the outside, which they did in the first meeting. Scoring leader Austin Freeman has been struggling with his shot over the past couple of games, and apparently has been dealing with an ankle sprain for the last two weeks.

It’s a shame because the Hoyas need him more than ever in this crucial game. They’ll also need a big game from Julian Vaughn in the post, because the Hoyas lose a big part of their perimeter game with Wright out. Vaughn had 12 points and eight boards in the first meeting.

Outlook & Online College Basketball Sports Betting Pick

Syracuse had dropped three in a row at Georgetown before a 75-71 win last year, and we think they’ll pull this out again as the Hoyas go into this game undermanned. You can’t underestimate the effect of losing Wright, a senior, and Georgetown will miss his experience, especially in a close game down the stretch.

Online College Basketball Sports Betting Pick: Syracuse