March 27th Pure Profets Play of The Day

Syracuse Orange vs. Oklahoma Sooners

There is no hotter team in the tournament right now than the Orange. They went on an inspired run in the Big East tourney and have peaked at the perfect time of year. The Orange have lost just once in their last 10 games and that just happened to be to top overall seed Louisville in the Big East Championship game. That game was also their 3rd in 3 nights including 7 overtime periods! They actually were leading Louisville at the half but ran out of steam down the stretch. You have to give them a little slack for wear and tear in that one.

Oklahoma does have a future NBA star in Blake Griffin but their talent depth ends there. After his injury toward the end of the regular season the Sooners went 2-6, even with Griffin playing in 4 of those games. Griffin’s biggest strength is his rebounding, but he will be hard pressed against a Syracuse team that is 15th in the nation in rebounds. Syracuse also plays solid 2-3 zone which will limit any presence inside.

Syracuse has a great, if underrated, guard in Johnny Flynn and Oklahoma will have no answer for his up tempo game. Oklahoma’s guards are inexperienced and turnover prone including 21 against Mizzou, 19 against Oklahoma State, and even 15 against Morgan State in the 1st round of the tourney. Huge edge here for the Orange.

Let’s also look at head coaching. Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim vs. Oklahoma’s Jeff Capel. Boeheim has much more experience and has always been a big game coach. Capel is good but unproven in big games like this as was exposed in the Sooners Big 12 season with loses to Texas, Kansas, and the same Mizzou team that Syracuse beat. Edge here goes to the Orange.

We can also look at the conference comparison in this matchup. If you haven’t realize that the Big East is the cream of the crop this year you must be living under a rock. Look at the top teams in this tourney and you will see that Syracuse played against much better competition than Oklahoma all season long. Syracuse has wins over Memphis, UConn, Marquette, Kansas and West Virginia to name a few. These Big East battles make the Orange a tested team ready to take the next step.

The smart money has been coming in on Syracuse in this game moving them from 1 point dogs to 1 point faves. We will follow the smart money all the way to the bank on this one.

PURE PROFETS PLAY ON SYRACUSE ORANGE -1

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