The NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse Week 8 slate is filled with inter-conference matchups and I’ve got my sights set on two in particular. Let’s take a look at which two favorites I’m backing against the spread this weekend.
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Syracuse vs. Notre Dame (-3.5)
| Notre Dame Odds | -500 |
| Syracuse Odds | +370 |
| Total | 26.5 |
| Time | Saturday, 2 p.m. ET |
| TV | ACCN |
Odds via Caesars Sportsbook.
Last week, I bet against Notre Dame in their ACC showdown with Virginia. This week, I’m looking to back the Irish as a 3.5-point favorite in their meeting with Syracuse.
Despite suffering their first loss last week, Notre Dame is still one of the most complete teams in the nation. They have the second most efficient offense and third most efficient defense, according to Lacrosse Reference. They combat their only glaring weakness at the faceoff stripe by controlling the pace of games and scoring on 34.5% of their shots — good enough for the nation’s fourth best shooting percentage.
Notre Dame struggled to gain momentum against the Cavaliers last week due to struggles at the faceoff and an uncharacteristically poor shooting performance. Luckily, they’ll face A Syracuse team that has also struggled to win the possession battle, ranking third worst in time of possession. While the Orange have been nearly as efficient as the Irish on offense and have limited turnovers even better than Notre Dame, they’ll face their toughest defense yet on Saturday afternoon.
Notre Dame is a 4.5-point favorite at most sportsbooks, but Caesars is currently offering them at -3.5 (-135.) I think this a great bounce back spot for the Irish and think they’ll be able to win by a substantial margin
Pick: Notre Dame -3.5
Penn State (-1.5) vs. Ohio State
| Penn State Odds | -120 |
| Ohio State Odds | -110 |
| Total | 24.5 |
| Time | Sunday, 12 p.m. ET |
| TV | ESPNU |
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook
The lone game on Sunday is a Big Ten matchup in Happy Valley featuring Penn State and Ohio State. The Nittany Lions enter as 1.5-point favorites, but the game is being priced closer to a pick ‘em.
The lines for this matchup might have looked a lot different if they were set a few weeks ago when Penn State was riding a four-game win streak and Ohio State was on a three-game losing streak. Instead, these teams meet following Ohio State’s big win over Rutgers and Penn State’s two-game skid featuring a shocking loss to Marquette and a close loss to Maryland.
This creates the perfect setup to sell the high team and buy the low team. With the exception of their loss to Marquette, Penn State has looked like the better team this season. While the Buckeyes have arguably faced tougher competition, a 17-6 loss to Virginia and 16-3 loss to Notre Dame doesn’t instill a lot of confidence.
These teams have shared just one common opponent so far in Cornell. While common matchups are necessarily indicative of how a head-to-head matchup will turn out, it’s fairly telling that Ohio State fell to the Big Red 16-13 just a week before Penn State knocked off Cornell 10-6 and held Tewaaraton candidate CJ Kirst to just three points—his lowest point total of the season.
Penn State boasts a defense that ranks 10th in defensive efficiency according to Lacrosse Reference and they’ll face an offense that has turned the ball over in 32.5% of their possessions—which ranks 15th worst out of all 75 Division I teams.
I think Penn State is the more balanced team and recommend betting them to cover the 1.5-points spread (+120 on DraftKings.)
Pick: Penn State -1.5
