The first of three college football bowl games scheduled for Thursday is set to take place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Two hard-hitting, defensive-minded teams will go head-to-head in the Pinstripe Bowl as the Syracuse Orange take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Despite the fact that both sides finished with identical win-loss records, the Syracuse vs Minnesota odds and college football betting picks have made Big Ten team a decisive favorite in this matchup.
The following game preview provides the college football betting odds, trends and FEI Index ratings before sharing our official Syracuse vs Minnesota prediction for the Pinstripe Bowl matchup.
Syracuse vs Minnesota Prediction | College Football Betting Picks
Pinstripe Bowl
Syracuse Orange (7-5, 4-4 ACC) vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers (8-4, 5-4 Big Ten)
Date: Thursday, December 29, 2022
Time: 2 p.m. EST
Venue: Yankee Stadium — Bronx, NY
Coverage: ESPN
Midway through the month of October, Syracuse was undefeated at 6-0 and soundly ranked in the AP Top 25. The Orange managed to take a 21-10 lead into the fourth quarter on the road against eventual ACC Champion Clemson but failed to hang on for the win. Syracuse had a tough time getting back on track after letting that opportunity slip away. After losing each of their next four games, the Orange were finally able to snap their losing streak with a win over Boston College in the regular-season finale.
In a similar vein, Minnesota also raced out to a 4-0 start, albeit against a very weak non-conference schedule. A home loss to Purdue kicked off a three-game losing skid. Despite losing starting quarterback Tanner Morgan to injury, the Golden Gophers were able to bounce back with three consecutive wins to give themselves a shot at winning the Big Ten West Division. However, another tough home loss to Iowa put an end to those aspirations. Minnesota closed the regular season with a road win over Wisconsin.
Syracuse vs Minnesota College Football Betting Picks and Odds
All college football betting odds for Syracuse vs Minnesota can be found at BetOnline Sportsbook.
Moneyline: SYR: (+320) | MINN: (-400)
Point Spread: SYR: +11 (-110) | MINN: -11 (-110)
Total: 44 — Over: (-110) | Under: (-110)
College Football FEI Ratings
The following table shares the Fremeau Efficiency Index rankings for both teams involved in this Pinstripe Bowl matchup. The purpose of the FEI ratings is to represent the per-possession scoring advantage that a team would be expected to have on a neutral field against an average opponent. The rankings for offense and defense are out of 131 total FBS-level teams.
Fremeau Efficiency Index (FEI) ratings are from Football Outsiders
| Team | Overall FEI (Rk) | OFEI (Rk) | DFEI (Rk) |
| Syracuse | .19 (48) | .26 (50) | .11 (51) |
| Minnesota | .59 (16) | .59 (34) | .74 (14) |
Syracuse vs Minnesota College Football Betting Trends
- Orange are 0-5 against the spread (ATS) in their last five games overall.
- The UNDER is 4-0 in the Orange’s last four games following a straight up win.
- Orange are 4-0 ATS in their last four bowl games.
- Golden Gophers are 5-0 ATS in their last five bowl games.
- Each of the Golden Gophers’ last five games following a straight up win has stayed UNDER the total.
- Golden Gophers are 8-2 ATS in their last ten games against opponents that average more than 7.50 yards per passing attempt.
- Betting underdogs are 3-0 ATS in the last three head-to-head meetings between Syracuse and Minnesota, the most recent of which took place in 2013.
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Syracuse vs Minnesota Prediction | College Football Betting Picks
Speaking with the media on Wednesday, head coach P.J. Fleck indicated that quarterback Tanner Morgan had been cleared to play for Minnesota in the Pinstripe Bowl. While there is no word on whether Morgan will actually play over Athan Kaliakmanis, Fleck’s comments have caused the Syracuse vs Minnesota odds to move significantly. The Golden Gophers are now laying double-digits for what will be the final game of Morgan’s collegiate career.
Another Minnesota standout who will be playing in his final game on Thursday is record-setting running back, Mohamed Ibrahim. After having his 2021 season cut short by a torn Achilles, Ibrahim somehow managed to come back better than ever. He rushed for over 100 yards in all but one game during the regular season and broke the program record for rushing touchdowns back in late September.
Of course, the Golden Gophers aren’t the only team in this matchup that boasts a top-tier running back. Unfortunately, Syracuse will be without the services of Sean Tucker who has elected to sit out the bowl game in preparation for next spring’s NFL Draft.
The Orange will also be without both their offensive and defensive coordinators on Thursday. The loss of OC Robert Anae especially hurts as he was widely credited for reviving the career of QB Garrett Shrader. Without Anae calling plays, the Orange may struggle to score much of anything against a defense that allowed only 13.6 points per game this season, the fourth-fewest in all of college football.
On the other side of the ball, expect Minnesota to feature Ibrahim prominently in this matchup. The Syracuse defensive front is extremely undersized and figures to be overpowered by the Gophers’ O-line. Such a run-heavy approach will help Minnesota control the time of possession and effectively shorten the game.
UNDER THE TOTAL will be our official college football betting Syracuse vs Minnesota prediction for the Pinstripe Bowl.
For what it’s worth, the ESPN Matchup Predictor gives Minnesota a 61.7% chance to win this game outright.
Bet: UNDER 44 (-110 at BetOnline Sportsbook)
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