Beat writers unanimous in Syracuse-North Carolina predictions

No. 9 Syracuse (7-3, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) travels to No. 18 North Carolina (7-4, 1-2) to wrap up SU’s regular-season conference slate. The Orange have won two-straight  and are coming off a rout of Cornell last Tuesday.

Here’s how our beat writers predict the SU-UNC matchup to shake out.

Michael McCleary (7-3)
Blue sings the Blues
Syracuse 15, North Carolina 11

Syracuse’s regular-season ACC finale is a long ways away from central New York, but that probably won’t matter. The Orange have proven over the course of the season that this is a game it should win. On paper, the Tar Heels are a formidable opponent for the Orange. A No. 12 ranking in scoring offense and and No. 22-ranked defense and a 7-4 record nearly mirror SU’s standing. That won’t matter. Syracuse took two top-5 offenses over the past two games and made them look almost ineffective. It’s stormed back for huge offensive performances against top-ranked defenses. The Orange will continue its season-long trend,  finish the season strong after a bizarre opening stretch and get one step closer to a first-round bye in the ACC Tournament.

Andrew Graham (6-4)
Ceilings and roofs
Syracuse 14, North Carolina 10

In Syracuse’s regular-season ACC finale, a win moves the needle closer to a No. 2 or No. 3 seed while a loss almost certainly dooms SU to the play-in game. Hence, I think the Orange start hot like they did against Cornell and make this one pretty simple, albeit closer. North Carolina is a bit enigmatic in that, though it’s roster is young, it’s just as talented as any team in the conference. SU players warned about this, and not overlooking younger players. But after back-to-back smotherings of top offenses, I feel like the Orange is finally on a roll for good. The defense and Drake Porter have been on the same wavelength since Notre Dame and the offense has come into its own of late. Syracuse gets a critical conference win on Saturday.

Nick Alvarez (5-5)
Turning Heel
Syracuse 14, North Carolina 8

Reason dictates that Syracuse should win this game. At points this season, though, that rationale had led to SU’s biggest losses, see Notre Dame and Colgate. But with a top-three seed in the ACC tournament on the line, the Orange should handle North Carolina. In the last two weeks, SU has handled top-tier offenses thanks to Nick Mellen and Tyson Bomberry. Expect that to happen again on Saturday to UNC’s top-15 attack. If Syracuse’s pregame warmup switch continues to pan out and it can avoid another slow start, then SU should win its third-straight.