The No. 2 Duke Blue Devils, led by superstar freshman Cooper Flagg, are traveling to western New York on a 15-game winning streak to take on the Syracuse Orange Wednesday night. In years past, this game would be appointment television with two of the top teams in the ACC being coached by two legends, Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Boeheim.
Our Duke vs. Syracuse prediction looks at two teams without those coaches on the sidelines. The Orange have fallen to the back of the pack in recent years, but the Blue Devils are surging yet again. Can the Orange keep it competitive and potentially pull off the upset of the year against the Blue Devils? Check out our prediction and best bets below.
Duke vs. Syracuse Betting Preview
All Duke vs. Syracuse odds are from DraftKings Sportsbook and are correct as of Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025.
- Spread
Duke -17 - CSN Spread
Duke -23.5 - Moneyline
Duke -2400, Syracuse +1200 - Over/Under
143.5 points - Game Time
Wednesday, Feb. 5, 7 p.m. ET - Location
JMA Wireless Dome | Syracuse, NY - How To Watch
ESPN2
Duke, coming in with a 19-2 record (11-0 in the ACC), is 13-8 ATS this season, including a 7-4 record in conference play. As the away favorite, they’ve won four of five games. They’ve also covered in five of their past eight games overall.
As a top-five defensive team, the Blue Devils have hit the under in 12 of 21 outings. A stat to keep an eye on: with two to three days of rest, Duke has gone under in eight of 12. That’s likely due to head coach Jon Scheyer and his staff being able to get a full scouting report on the opponent while the players receive the requisite amount of rest.
The Orange enter with a 10-12 record this season and a 4-7 record in ACC play. The underdog in most games this season, they’re 12-9-1 ATS. They’ve also covered eight of their 11 conference games, including five in a row as the underdog.
Their over/under record is 9-12-1, as they’ve sometimes had trouble scoring. Only four of 11 games have gone over in conference matchups.
Duke vs. Syracuse CSN Power Rankings Line
Our rankings system has Duke in the No. 1 slot, while Syracuse is way below at No. 181. This signifies a complete mismatch despite the Orange’s home-court advantage. In fact, our power rankings make the Blue Devils 23.5-point favorites over the Orange, signaling that there’s an advantage to taking the Blue Devils against Vegas’ spread.
WHERE DOES YOUR TEAM RANK? CHECK OUT THE FULL CSN POWER RANKINGS
Prediction for Duke vs. Syracuse
The Blue Devils are coming in looking unbeatable, with a 15-game win streak to show for it. Their average margin of victory over that stretch is an incredible 19.5 points.
Point forward Flagg has come into his own in particular, averaging 26.0 ppg on just under 55% shooting from the field. He’s also getting help from his teammates; in Duke’s 17-point win over the North Carolina Tar Heels, four of five starters scored 13 points or more.
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Syracuse is led by dynamic scorer J.J. Starling, who’s averaging 17.9 ppg this year. Center Eddie Lampkin Jr., formerly of the Colorado Buffaloes, holds it down in the post, averaging a near-double-double of 10.1 ppg and 9.0 RPG.
The 17-point line is very high for a conference matchup. Despite that, it’s still the play here. Duke beat the rival Tar Heels by 17 points but was up by as much as 32 before UNC made a late run.
If you don’t love that pick, Duke 1H -10.5 is another solid option. When the halftime buzzer sounded against the Tar Heels, they held a 47-25 lead. This one could get ugly; if it does, it’ll likely be right from the jump.
The expected final score is 80-63, with Duke on top. While I do see the Blue Devils scoring that many points if they were to play the starters for the entirety of the game, my prediction is that they won’t have to. Combine that with their top-five defense in the country in nearly every metric, and the under of 143.5 points is solid.
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The Orange already have a hard time scoring, and with five-star freshman forward Donnie Freeman out the past month, they’ve had even more trouble putting the ball in the hoop.
Syracuse is straight-up outmatched here, so we’re rolling with the Blue Devils to take this one early and continue to suffocate the Orange throughout.
Picks: Duke -17, Duke 1H -10.5, Under 143.5
Prediction: Duke 76, Syracuse 56
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