College Hoops Picks Feb. 4, 2009: West Virginia Mountaineers @ Syracuse Orange

West Virginia Mountaineers (4-4, 15-6) at Syracuse Orange (5-4, 17-5)

Wednesday, Feb. 4—7:00 PM EST

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Preview

After playing well above expectations at the start of the season and going 16-1, the Syracuse Orange (No. 20 AP, No. 20 Coaches, 5-4, 17-5) have gone 1-4 in their last five and are now seventh in the Big East. They suffered their most recent loss on the road at Providence, but it was a game many expected them to win (including myself).

The Mountaineers (4-4, 15-6) have a similar story—after going 11-2 in nonconference play, they now sit in eighth place in the Big East with a 4-4 record. Their four losses, though, have all come at the hands of top 10 teams—Connecticut, Marquette, Pittsburgh, and Louisville.

Because of the quality of their losses, West Virginia is not a team to be taken lightly. They have the ability to defeat teams and pull upsets when called upon. They are not ranked because they have had unfortunate timing in their losses—they made it to the Top 25 but were knocked out with their back-to-back losses to Connecticut and Marquette. When they were getting back on track (after upsetting Georgetown on the road), they lost to Pitt, and two games later lost to Louisville.

Syracuse's slippery slope began when they lost at Georgetown. They came back the next game to redeem themselves against Notre Dame but have since reeled off four losses. A win over West Virginia is crucial for the Orange—in their following four games they face Villanova twice, get a chance at redemption when they host the Hoyas, and travel to Hartford to take on the top ranked team in the country. A confidence boost Wednesday can go a long way in the coming weeks.

By The Numbers

	Record	Conf	ATS	RPI	SOS	PF	PA
West Virginia	15-6	4-4	9-8	16	11	72.7	60.0
Syracuse	17-5	5-4	8-10	24	30	80.0	70.2

	FG%	D. FG%	3P%	D. 3P%	FT%	RPG	SPG	APG	TPG
West Virginia	43.1	41.2	32.5	27.2	67.3	41.9	7.8	14.5	12.6
Syracuse	49.8	40.6	35.2	29.1	63.5	43.0	7.6	17.3	15.5

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Prediction

Current Line: Syracuse -3.0

West Virginia ATS: 9-8, 3-1 when underdog.
Syracuse ATS: 8-10, 5-7 when favored.

West Virginia is hot right now. All of their losses are respectable, and they have had players step up when their stars have struggled.

The Orange, on the other hand, are coming off a bad loss, and didn't play exceptionally well against Pitt or Louisville, either. A solid win against an upcoming team would go a long way for this program and instill some much needed confidence. West Virginia may have a better RPI right now, but the Orange are going to get their rhythm back in this one.

Look for Syracuse to improve to 5-6 ATS at the Carrier Dome come Wednesday.

Ryan's Pick: Syracuse -3.0

*This article is also featured on CBBPlace.com*

*All statistics for this article have come from StatSheet.com*