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It's a number two seed versus a number three seed with the Syracuse vs. Oklahoma Sweet 16 NCAA Tournament odds listing number three-seeded Syracuse as the +1 underdog Friday. The early action was very even at SBG Global.
Syracuse clinched a spot in the Sweet 16 for the first time in the last five seasons, improving to 50-31 all-time in the NCAA tourney along the way.
Orange coach Jim Boeheim moved just one win away from his 800th career victory.
With 21 points, Eric Devendorf has now scored 20-plus in four of his last five games.
Syracuse beat Arizona State for the first time in school history, though the two schools have only met once before. The only other meeting was at the 1968 Far West Classic in Portland.
Syracuse's reward is to move on and play Blake Griffin and second-seeded Oklahoma (29-5) in Memphis on Friday, a spot in the regional final against either North Carolina or Gonzaga at stake for the winner.
Some reward, said Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, who got the 799th win of his career and moved into a tie with former Louisville coach Denny Crum for seventh in all-time NCAA tournament coaching wins with 42.
"We're going to play the team that would be the No. 1 seed in this tournament if it weren't for Griffin getting injured," Boeheim said. "If he hadn't gotten hurt, they'd be the No. 1 seed. That's enough to worry about."
Blake Griffin recorded his NCAA-best 28th double-double (33 points, 17 rebounds) and became the first player since Nick Collison in 2003 to have 30 points and 15 rebounds in a tournament game.
The Sooners advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2003.
Michigan bumped Blake Griffin around, knocked him to the floor, even bloodied his nose. There were no wrestling takedowns, but the Wolverines still gave it to him pretty good.
Nothing worked.
Oklahoma's bulldozer of a power forward took the hits and kept rolling, finishing with 33 points and 17 rebounds in a 73-63 victory over Michigan on Saturday night to send the Sooners back into the NCAA's round of 16 for the first time in six years.
"He's a fantastic player on a fantastic team," Michigan coach John Beilien said.
Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com
