#1 Syracuse (23-0, 10-0), atypically loss-less (the loss-less monster?) for a division I men's college basketball at this point in the season, will be 2.5 underdogs to the number 25th ranked team in the country, Pittsburg (20-4, 8-3), when the two play tonight at 7:00 pm EST on ESPN. Taste that spread for a second. No, it's not your mother's jam; it's some nuclear-infested, green grape jelly from a jar labeled only as "Food" punctuated by a drawn-in question mark intended not for sarcasm, but hopelessness.

Earlier this season, the Orange beat the Panthers at home by ("only") five points. Still, that's been the way Syracuse has won most of its games this year: low-scoring and semi-close. Regardless of the advanced metrics used by vegas (keeping it lower-case at the moment because of my outrage), an undefeated team with 'Cuse's talent should never be underdogs to a team with Pitt's solid but unspectacular resume and ranking. (There's a reason they have just four losses but are ranked behind teams with more, including fellow conference opponents #17 Virginia and #8 Duke).

In movies that deal with time-travel (some that hate themselves for it, like one of my personal favorites, "Looper"), the future is either sealed by fate, regardless of one's previous knowledge, or it can be changed. In this case, I think the odds makers just ripped a massive worm hole through the universe, big enough to shoot over the Orange's lengthy 2-3 zone defense and with enough space to fit their entire team and the rosters from every season since 1967.

Seeing "Top Ranked Orange Are Underdogs" in the headlines, as I'm sure the players have if Jim Boeheim knows what he's doing, is just the type of sharpening a dulling, zero-loss team like Syracuse needs at this point. Whether it's a burden to be undefeated or if the challenge simply makes opponents better, unfair spreads are almost always good for a chip indented past the arm, below the neck, in that large ball-and-socket joint that sometimes pops out, that pitchers sometimes throw out, that sometimes gets "dirty" and needs to be "offed," that cheatingly rhymes with soldier; the shoulder.

Syracuse for the cover.

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Record: 13-19

Butler @ Creighton: L (picked Butler, +10.5)

UConn @ Memphis: L (picked Memphis, -7.5)

Depaul @ Villanova: W (picked Villanova, -17.5)

Pittsburg @ Syracuse: L (picked Syracuse, -5.5)

Creighton @ Villanova: L (picked Villanova, -6.5)

Baylor @ Kansas: W (picked Baylor, + 10.5)

Indiana @ Michigan State: L (picked Michigan State, -12)

Iowa @ Michigan: L (picked Iowa, + 1.5)

Colorado @ Arizona: W (picked Colorado, + 14.5)

Illinois @ Ohio State: W (picked Illinois, + 11)

Michigan @ Michigan State: W (picked Michigan, + 4.5)

Villanova @ Marquette: W (picked Villanova, -3)

Utah @ Arizona: W (picked Utah, + 15)

Oklahoma @ Oklahoma State: W (picked Oklahoma, + 4.5)

Villanova @ Georgetown: L (picked Villanova, -6.5)

Michigan State @ Iowa: W (picked Michigan State, + 5)

St. John's @ Creighton: W (picked St. John's, + 12)

Iowa State @ Kansas: L (picked Iowa State, + 8.5)

Syracuse @ Wake Forest: L (picked Syracuse, -10)

Purdue @ Michigan: L (picked Michigan, -12)

Florida @ Mississippi State: W (picked Miss. State, + 15)

Duke @ Syracuse: L (picked Syracuse, -3)

Xavier @ Villanova: L (picked Xavier, + 10)

Nebraska @ Michigan: L (picked Nebraska, + 13)

Boston College @ Virginia: L (picked Virginia, -13)

Oregon @ Arizona: L (picked Arizona, -11)

Oklahamo State @ Texas Tech: W (picked Texas Tech, + 6.5)

West Virginia @ Kansas: L (picked WVU, + 14)

Maryland @ Virginia: L (picked Virginia, -11)

Iowa State @ West Virginia: L (picked Iowa State, - 1.5)

Michigan @ Ohio State: L (picked Ohio State, -3.5)

Florida @ Tennessee: W (picked Florida, - 1.5)