Syracuse vs. UNC (-1)

Tonight we college basketball fans are offered a juicy matchup of top 25 teams in late November. Syracuse is taking on North Carolina in the Championship of the 2K Sports Classic in Madison Square garden. There are actually a lot of interesting subplots in this game.

The Venue

Ahh yes, New York, New York. Madison Square Garden has always been a great venue for the 'Cuse. Hell, it almost seems as if the Orange win more games in MSG each year than the Knicks. Remember the 6OT thriller last year with UCONN? In Madison Square Garden. Remember Gerry McNamara going crazy and leading the Orange to a Big East title when they weren't even suppose to when the first game? In Madison Square Garden. This is basically a home game for Syracuse. Advantage 'Cuse

The Experience

North Carolina is returning 6 Seniors and only 2 (Ginyard and Thompson) that actually play. Syracuse is returning 2 Seniors that I expect to see a lot of in Rautins and Onuaku and one Junior which is transfer Wesley Johnson. Both are very young teams. In the absence of experience I turn to talent. UNC definitely has more talented youngsters, and THEY ARE DEEP. Ed Davis, Dexter Strickland, Leslie McDonald, the Wear twins, and Tyler Zeller and others I left out. The Orange have some good first and second year players too, and altough I'm a sucker for names like Scoop and Mookie.... Advantage Heels.

Season Performance

So far the Heels are (4-0) with wins over Florida International, North Carolina Central, Valpo, and Ohio State. The Heels have been winning by an average of 19.5 points, although last night was close- winning by 4 over Ohio State. Larry Drew hit a couple of free throws to seal the deal on that one. The Orange on the other hand are (3-0) with wins over Albany, Robert Morris, and Cal. Syracuse has won by an impressive average margin of 31.3 points. Last night they stomped 12. Cal into the ground, but we all remember what happened earlier this season dont we? A team from Syracuse, New York, Le Moyne University, beat the Orange and stunned the nation. It's a let down like that which prompted Jim Boheim to say, "We're not one of the best teams in the nation. We're not even the best team in Syracuse." Although the Orange have looked ok thus far....Advantage Heels.

The Pick

This game is going to be a hard fought battle as No. 25 Syracuse tangles with No. 4 UNC, but I think that the Heels (as much as I hate to say it) are deeper and more talented. I know they're giving away one point to basically a home team, but my guess is that Carolina wins by anywhere from 6-20 points.