Ranked Underdog Stat Points to Taking Maryland vs Syracuse in College Football Week 2 Matchup
By Zach Brunner | Sep 06 2019
An unranked Maryland Terrapins team will host No. 21 Syracuse Orange on Saturday. Yet, despite being ranked, Syracuse is a 1.5-point underdog in this Week 2 college football game, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
And there's a betting trend that could help explain why this is the case.
With Maryland currently favored over Syracuse. Since 2015, there have been 23 times in the reg season where a team ranked 20th or lower entered a game vs a NR team as a dog. Ranked teams are just 4-19 SU in that span. Last year there were 6 instances, with ranked teams going 1-5.
— Chris Fallica (@chrisfallica) September 3, 2019
Since 2015, there have been 23 occasions where a team ranked 20th or lower came into a game as underdogs against an unranked opponent. In those games, the ranked team is just 4-19 straight up. That scenario occurred six times last season, with the ranked teams winning just once as the underdog.
No. 21 Syracuse enters Saturday's game coming off a 24-0 road victory over Liberty in Week 1. Despite the shutout win, there were red flags that led to being underdogs against Maryland, including quarterback Tommy DeVito going 17-of-35 for 176 yards and two interceptions.
Three Maryland bred leaders ?
— Maryland Football (@TerpsFootball) September 3, 2019
Your Week 2️⃣ Captains: @_DjTurner1, @Olu_2x and @Bigtime__ace! #MAXIMIZEIT pic.twitter.com/5tnddzZ4MP
Maryland's Week 1 victory over Howard was also extremely impressive. The Terps dominated from start to finish in a 79-0 win. The offense imposed its will, gaining 623 total yards to Howard's 68. While it's hard to judge from such a lopsided game, this matchup against Syracuse should be a better measurement of both team's abilities moving forward.
While it's not often that an unranked team enters the game favored over a ranked opponent, this trend may simply be too much to ignore.
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