Indiana Opens as Slight Favorite On the Road at Syracuse

Indiana has started the season with six straight wins, but now the Hoosiers venture out on the road for the first time, taking on Syracuse in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Oddsmakers are favoring Indiana again, but they're expecting a tight, one-possession game. Here's the opening point spread as of Tuesday morning.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Indiana was expected to win its first six games at home, and the Hoosiers did just that. Now the Hoosiers hit the road for the first time, and oddsmakers are still expecting IU to stay unbeaten.

But not by much.

According to the SISportsbook.come website, the Hoosiers are 2.5-point favorites over 3-3 Syracuse when they meet on Tuesday night in the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. The game is part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and starts at 7 p.m. ET (TV: ESPN2)

Indiana is 4-2 against the spread so far this season. Here are there results so far:

• Nov. 9 — Beat Eastern Michigan 68-62 as a 24-point favorite (lost)
• Nov. 12 — Beat Northern Illinois 85-49 as a 25.5-point favorite (won)
• Nov. 17 — Beat St. John's 76-74 as a 6-point favorite (lost)
• Nov. 21 — Beat Louisiana 76-44 as an 11.5-point favorite (won)
• Nov. 23 — Beat Jackson State 70-35 as a 22.5-point favorite (won)
• Nov. 27 — Beat Marshall 90-79 as a 10-.5-point favorite (won)

Syracuse is 3-3 on the season, and 2-1 at the Carrier Dome so far this season. Their lone loss at home came against Colgate, which hit 18 three-pointers against them in a 100-85 upset victory. Syracuse was an 11-point favorite in that game.

The Orange played three games in the three days Bahamas last week, and Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said that was too much for his team physically. They did not play well, losing to VCU 67-55 in their opener on Wednesday — they were 5.5-point favorites — and then beat Arizona State before losing to No. 19 Auburn 89-69 on Friday.

There are five other ACC/Big Ten Challenge games on Tuesday, and outside of No. 2-ranked Purdue, all the point spreads are very small. For the complete schedule with game times and TV, and point spreads on all the games, CLICK HERE

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• ACC/BIG TEN SCHEDULE: Here is the complete schedule for the 14-game ACC/Big Ten Challenge, with gametimes and TV information, plus summaries of the games played so far. CLICK HERE
• 1,000-POINT SCORERS: Two weeks ago, Trayce Jackson-Davis became the 54th Hoosier all-time to reach the hallowed 1,000-point mark. Here's the complete list, and where he stands now. CLICK HERE
• GALLOWAY OUT: Indiana sophomore guard Trey Galloway will miss at least a month after undergoing surgery on his fractured right wrist on Friday night. He was injured when he was taken down hard to the floor on a flagrant foul during the St. John's game. CLICK HERE