Following an upset victory over then-No.18 Virginia, Syracuse (9-7, 2-3 Atlantic Coast) will host Boston College (9-7, 3-2) on Wednesday night. The Eagles also beat Virginia last week before losing to Georgia Tech on Saturday.

Below, The Daily Orange beat writers predict if Syracuse will win its second-straight conference game.

Nick Alvarez (13-3)
Everybody gets one
Boston College 65, Syracuse 59

I said pre-Virginia, “it would be very Syracuse to pull off a massive upset,” so I’ll take my consolation point where I can. And, maybe to the surprise of most, I’m going to use that same mindset to pick Boston College for Wednesday night’s game. I’ll admit this prediction is harder with the “questionable” status of leading-scorer Derryck Thornton and center Nik Popovic, but even then I haven’t seen enough from this SU squad to confidently say any momentum from the Virginia win will carry over. And a few key contributors — Elijah Hughes, Buddy Boeheim and Marek Dolezaj — are starting to show the wear-and-tear from conference play and that might offset BC’s lack of its top players. Like Boston College, Syracuse has been inconsistent all year and dropped games it should’ve won. Add another to that list.

Michael McCleary (10-6)
Boston’s punishment is coming…
Syracuse 72, Boston College 66

… and it’s going to be harsh. A loss to Syracuse certainly would be that for a team that’s picked up a couple of nice wins recently. SU’s win over Virginia is a tough one to gauge, but I think there is something to be said about the momentum it might provide for an Orange roster that’s about to meet multiple teams that aren’t too strong. Also, Syracuse’s surge in overtime can’t be ignored, even if it can’t be maintained. The ACC is a weird conference this year and is largely unpredictable, but they make us do this each week. So, someone has to win.

Josh Schafer (12-4)
Boston has college sports?
Syracuse 71 Boston College 64

So if there’s one thing we learned from Syracuse’s most recent win, it’s that the Orange’s defense can handle poor offenses. Syracuse limited the Cavaliers – which entered the game 348 out of 350 teams in points per game – to 43 points in regulation. Boston College averages 10 more points than the Cavaliers (65) but still sits at 312th nationally in the category. This is the kind of game that even inconsistent offense, like the performance SU had last Saturday, can win a game. The Orange will carry some momentum from last weekend into a home game, and they will bring consecutive ACC wins for the first time this year.

Published on January 14, 2020 at 11:11 pm