Clemson vs. Syracuse March Madness odds, spread: Orange among first four out on 2021 NCAA Tournament bracketology, face must-win game Wednesday

Both CBS Sports' Jerry Palm and ESPN's Joe Lunardi in their NCAA Tournament bracketology projections as of Wednesday morning list Syracuse not just among the "first four out" for the 2021 Big Dance and the last of the first four out. Thus, Wednesday's home matchup against Clemson is a must-win game for Coach Jim Boeheim's team. The Orange are -2 on the William Hill Sportsbook college basketball odds.

On the all-important NET rankings, Syracuse (14-8, 8-7 ACC) ranks No. 55 overall, but working against the Orange is a 2-7 road record and 0-6 overall record against Quad 1 opponents. They have feasted on Quad 3 (8-1) and Quad 4 (3-0) foes.

SU at least got on the bubble with a 72-70 home upset of North Carolina on Monday behind 26 points from Boeheim's son Buddy as he reached 1,000 career points. The game shouldn't have been that close as Syracuse was up 14 with just over five minutes left. Wednesday is the Orange's regular-season finale.

Clemson (15-5, 9-5 ACC) will be in the Big Dance, with Palm listing the Tigers as a No. 4 seed currently and Lunardi a No. 7. They still have a shot at a top-four finish in the ACC and a double-bye in the conference tournament. Clemson enters on a five-game winning streak and will be heavily favored in its regular-season finale Saturday vs. Pittsburgh.

On Feb. 6, Clemson hosted Syracuse and won 78-61 as a 3-point favorite. The game was over at the half with the Tigers up 20. Aamir Simms had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Tigers, while SU's Boeheim was held to eight points on 3-for-13 shooting. Simms leads Clemson in points (13.6), rebounds (6.2), assists (2.5) and blocks (0.7) per game. Few players around the nation lead a team in those four categories.

If Wednesday's game comes down to free throws, advantage Syracuse as it is shooting 78.4 percent as a team from the free-throw line, which would shatter the school's single-season record. Three starters are shooting better than 80 percent.

At William Hill, Clemson is +10000 to win the national title and Syracuse +15000.  The home team is 4-1 against the spread in the past five in this series. 

SportsLine's proven model simulates every college basketball game 10,000 times. It absolutely crushed its March Madness picks in the last tournament, beating nearly 90 percent of all CBS Sports brackets one year after finishing in the top five percent. Join SportsLine now to get winning college basketball picks.