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The sweet sixteen tips off with Butler vs. Syracuse. The spread on this game has the Orange at 6 point favorites. Don’t sleep on Butler as the underdog in this one; even though they are a 5 seed, they are also ranked #11 in the country. The 5 seed is only because of the conference they play in, but make no mistake they have the talent to play with the big boys. The Bulldogs also carry the nation’s longest active winning streak, which currently sits at 22 games.

Take a look at this game, Inside The Numbers:

The thing that jumps out to me is that both teams take care of the ball and really limit their turnovers. If that holds true in this match-up we should be in for a close, competitive game. The biggest differential is in free throw rate. Butler gets to the line more than Syracuse. We’ll see if that holds water in this game as Butler will see a Syracuse 2-3 zone unlike anything they faced before.

Taking a step back when looking at this match-up I see a tremendous perimeter shooting team in Butler, facing a team in Syracuse that plays zone defense. Conventional wisdom would tell you that the perimeter shooting team holds the advantage. The problem with that thought process is it doesn’t give the Syracuse 2-3 zone enough credit. The Orange can give a lot of different looks and pressure from the base 2-3 zone look. Butler will make some threes in this game, but in my opinion they’ll need to make 11 or 12 threes to win this game. Should be a fun one to watch.