The No. 15 Notre Dame Fighting Irish travel to the Carrier Dome to take on the No.5 ranked Syracuse Orangemen on New Year Day. Notre Dame is flying high after winning their first Big East Conference game over the No.9 ranked Georgetown Hoyas. Syracuse battled Big East rival Providence and remained undefeated with an 81-74 win.

NCAAB Odds have not yet been posted.

Jim Boeheim is a coach that is not concerned with being undefeated. He is a master strategist when it comes to positioning his team for the Big Dance in March. Syracuse undefeated start to the season is uncharacteristic but they have only faced one ranked opponent this season. Notre Dame has one loss entering this tilt. They lost to a strong Kentucky Wildcats team that was ranked No. 16 at the time.

Kris Joseph is the leading sniper on this Syracuse team but he is also the leader on the court. Joseph is a junior forward on this team averaging 14.9 points per game and is leading the team from three point territory also. Joseph is hitting three’s at a 35 percent clip leading all starters.

Notre Dame is led by Tim Abromaitis, a senior forward scoring 16.1 points per game. Ben Hansbrough is the bomber on this team and when he gets hot he can take over a game. Hansbrough is shooting three pointers at an amazing 48 percent and it is a guarantee that Syracuse will be looking to man up on him on the outside.

Notre Dame is the more physical team. They rank eighth in the country in rebounds but Syracuse is the better shooting team. They ranked 33rd in the country in field goal percentage while Notre Dame ranks 84th.

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