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+165+165  +164 SIA +165

Posted at 9:00 AM EST and odds are subject to change.

Pinnacle has the best number here with the Orange +174

Syracuse +174 over Louisville

JMA Wireless Dome - Syracuse, NY

Steaming: ACC Network

8:00 PM. There is just so much to like about the Orange in this game that we are going to dive right in. First and foremost, Syracuse welcomes the ACC’s top rusher from a year ago back for another season. Sean Tucker went off in 2021 for a Syracuse-record 1,496 yards. It wasn’t enough to drag the Orange out of ACC mediocrity, but when you consider Syracuse went from one win in 2020 to five wins last season, it wasn’t such a bad year.

Tucker is one of eight Syracuse players to make the All-ACC squad this season with linebacker Mikel Jones joining him on the first team. Offensive tackle Matthew Bergeron, cornerback Duce Chestnut and kick returner Trebor Pena were all named to the second team. Rounding out the eight are linebacker Stefon Thompson, corner Garrett Williams and kicker Andre Szmyt all received third-team nods.

If you noticed the Orange had a few defenders in that group, good on you, as this unit returns every one of its starting linebackers and defensive backs. That group finished as a top-15 unit in total defense in the nation last season. Not bad for a five-win squad.

All is not sunshine and rainbows in Louisville, as head coach Scott Satterfield is on the hot seat after two losing seasons. Dude won the ACC Coach of the Year in 2019 just in case you forgot how fickle college football can be. There was much rumor and innuendo that Satterfield would wise up and not return for his fourth season with the Cardinals, but alas, here we are. Perhaps most telling is that less than a week after former Athletic Director (AD) Vince Tyra made it be known that Satterfield would be back at the helm in 2022, he split and left town leaving the coach to hold the bag. It's an understatement to suggest that Satterfield is a lame-duck coach.

Like any general manager in sports, a school’s AD is inevitably going to want to hire their own people. How good a season does Satterfield have to have here to survive? He certainly can’t lose to Kentucky again after getting his ass kicked by the Wildcats the past three seasons by a combined 109 points. As easy as it is to pick on Satterfield, the Cardinals' problems go deeper than him. Louisville failed to sell out any of its home games last season, recruiting quality has dropped significantly and Satterfield appears to be losing his grip on the team. The Cardinals' best two wide receivers ran for the hills by way of the transfer portal and their coach, Gunter Brewer left for Maryland. The rats are fleeing this sinking ship.

Louisville is up against it here in 2022. The Cardinals play four of their first six games on the road, including this trip to upstate New York and if they do not make hay here, it’s going to spiral out of control quickly. Satterfield backloaded the schedule with games against Clemson, NC State, and Kentucky to end the season. If Satterfield isn’t a dead man walking already, he might be by then. That is if he doesn't get sacked before then. A loss here in Syracuse would be a step in that direction.

With Syracuse on the way up the ACC ladder and the Cardinals tumbling downward, we have to question why Louisville is the favorite here. Is it market prestige? The Cardinals are a known commodity, but they haven’t been relevant since Lamar Jackson left and they're very unlikely to be revelant this year. Syrcause will be. Keep the points. Orange outright.