Betting Odds Shift for Pitt vs. Syracuse

Pitt opened last week as an early betting favorite against Syracuse, and the line has continued to shift in favor of the Panthers since.

Pitt was set a 3-point favorite last week, but the line of DraftKings and FanDuel has grown over the last couple of days. DraftKings currently has Pitt as a 6-point favorite while FanDuel has the Panthers as a 5.5-point favorite.

A bet for Pitt to cover the spread on DraftKings holds -108 odds. The total point spread has been set at 62 points and the money line odds at -218 for Pitt and +180 for Syracuse. A bet for Pitt to cover the spread on FanDuel holds -115 odds. The total point spread has been set at 61.5 points and the money line odds at -220 for Pitt and +180 for Syracuse.

Syracuse is off to a strong start in the Fran Brown era, sitting at 5-1 (2-1 ACC) at the midway point. The Orange are led by Ohio State transfer Kyle McCord, who has thrown for 2,160 yards with 19 touchdowns and six interceptions this season. ‘Cuse is scoring 33.8 points per game, but like the Panthers, the defensive numbers don’t look great.

It’s a good test for both teams, who still largely control their destiny in the conference. And Pitt is looking for revenge.

Pitt has played Syracuse the third-most times in program history but the Orange are rarely brought up in the same breath as the likes of West Virginia, Penn State or even Notre Dame. 

There isn’t the same proximity (although, ‘Cuse is one of the closer ACC destinations) or the same deep-rooted history between Pitt and Syracuse that Pitt shares with either WVU and Penn State — and the fanbases aren’t nearly as antagonistic. But Pat Narduzzi considers the series a rivalry nonetheless.

“There’s been a lot of close games,” Narduzzi said in the buildup to the Syracuse game last season. “I think it’s a tough game. I think it’s physical. And I do see it as a rivalry. The longer I’m here, I really do. It’s one of the old Big East games that was played, and I do see it as a rivalry that we get to embrace.”

And with the ACC’s scheduling model, Pitt has been placed in a “pod” with Syracuse and Boston College. Under that scheduling model, Pitt will Syracuse and Boston College annually through 2030. And Narduzzi is just fine with that. 

“I love playing a team over and over again,” Narduzzi said. “I think that’s part of what makes a rivalry. You get to know who they are. It’s more fun to game plan. We go back to 2016, watching some of the plays they run, one of the plays they ran in that basketball game we played here, they ran last week against BC, they ran it against Western Michigan. It’s the same stuff coming back out, like, here it is.

“So, you’re practicing the heck out of that. There’s that chess match that you get when you play someone more than once or twice, and I kinda like that chess match.”

Pitt and Syracuse have met every season for the last 55 years, and this meeting will be the 80th all-time meeting between the ACC foes.

Pitt has played Syracuse 79 times in program history, dating back to a 30-0 inaugural win in the 1916 season. With a 43-33-3 all-time record against the Orange, Pitt has gotten the best of Syracuse of late. But of course, the Orange did win the last matchup, a 28-13 victory at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.