CFP contender or bottom half of the ACC?
The Syracuse Orange football team seems to be one that a lot of experts aren’t sure how to evaluate. With the new coaching staff and a roster overhaul, we’re going to see a wide range of predictions.
This week CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli picked a CFP Cinderella from each P4 conference and for the ACC, Fornelli went with Syracuse.
I considered Pitt as another possibility from the ACC. While I have some trepidation about Syracuse in Fran Brown’s first season as a head coach at any level, everything else seems like a perfect fit. The Orange are coming off a 6-7 season and have played in a bowl game in each of the last two years. While the Dino Babers era was up and down (10 wins in 2018, one in 2020), the team found a level in the last three seasons, going 18-20. The gap between fighting for bowls and a 10-win season worthy of an at-large is wide, but not nearly as wide as it is for teams coming off three- and four-win seasons.
Meanwhile Phil Steele released his 2024 college football preview and he thinks Syracuse will finish in a tie for 12th in the ACC with Wake Forest and Boston College. Steele expects the Orange to push for a bowl bid for the third straight season, but he thinks there will be a learning curve in Fran Brown’s first season….even if the transfer portal appears to have been good to the Cuse.
5 Under the Radar Transfer Classes, according to @JesseReSimonton
READ: https://t.co/pOPRu1KsM9 pic.twitter.com/qlaI3HVn2M
— Transfer Portal (@TransferPortal_) June 12, 2024
Everyone agrees that Syracuse has an opportunity next fall since they avoid Clemson and Florida State, but Steele has six of the Orange’s ACC opponents predicted to finish ahead of them (Miami, NC State, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Cal and Pitt).
Steele also ranks the top draft-eligible players by position and had three Syracuse players in his top 10. Alijah Clark is the 6th ranked free safety, Kyle McCord is the 9th ranked quarterback and Jack Stonehouse is ranked 9th among punters.
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What do you think is more likely- Syracuse in the CFP, or finishing 12th in the ACC?