Our power ratings have this as a two-point game. Syracuse is in a serious bubble burst. They were all but a lock for a No. 1 seed and close to a historic undefeated season. They have now lost two straight and must rebound quickly from their controversial loss at Duke with yet another difficult road task.

On the other hand, Maryland can be fully focused on this one. They have not played in six days when they had the perfect tune-up game at home to a weak Wake Forest squad.

Going from the old Big East to the ACC was not a huge upgrade. In fact the Big East transfer upgraded the conference for everyone. But newbie Syracuse had the early motivational upper hand where they had to prove themselves and most ACC games became a one-way rivalry briefly. But those days are gone.

Keep in mind that the last two Syracuse wins were last second shots by a combined three points. In their last six games, their two biggest margins of victory were both at home to Notre Dame by just six and to Clemson.

After breezing through 23 straight win, two narrow victories and two losses is certainly trending down.

Joe Duffy's Picks is on Maryland as the home underdog.

Tonight's best sports handicapper picks Joe Duffy's Picks is 30-14 the last 44. Dominating is all we know. Stopping it is not an option as we approach our 27th anniversary of winning. We have both NBA and college basketball up tonight to complete the sweep.