The Syracuse football team's 13-9 win over South Florida moves their record to 4-1. According to CBS Sportsline ratings, this makes them the highest rated team in the Big East Conference. This is a big step forward for a team which has suffered some major down years in the past decade.
Syracuse football coach Doug Marrone has said that the team's goal this season was to get to a bowl game. Since the team has played two FCS opponents (I hate this whole new naming convention and would prefer to still use Division 1-AA), they will need 7 victories to lock up a bowl appearance. This past weekend's win puts them in a prime position to accomplish this goal.
Syracuse is about to start the toughest part of their Big East Conference schedule, with their next 3 games against Pittsburgh, at #25 West Virginia, and at Cincinnati. WVU looks strong, but Pitt and Cincinnati are having disappointing starts to their seasons, so it's not out of the question that SU can steal one of these games. The team has momentum going into this weekend's homecoming game against Pitt, and the fan base should be rallying around the team
The next 3 games on the schedule are against Louisville, Rutgers, and UConn. Syracuse has beaten Louisville the last 2 seasons and beat Rutgers last year. UConn is coming back to the pack this year with some early season struggles, and they just lost to Rutgers this past week. Plus, Syracuse will have the revenge factor on its side after UConn ran up the score with a late touchdown in last year's game. At this point, if the team performs to its potential and doesn't suffer any major injuries, they have a great chance to win all 3 of these games.
The final game is home against Boston College. BC is only 2-3 right now and doesn't seem to be one of the strong teams in the ACC this year, so that would seem to be another game that SU could win. Therefore, if you tally them up, not only does Syracuse have a great chance at a bowl this year, but they could have 8 or 9 wins by the end of the season. This will go a long way to help recruit better players next season and help build the program back to national prominence, which should give the Syracuse fans something to get excited about.
Syracuse football coach Doug Marrone has said that the team's goal this season was to get to a bowl game. Since the team has played two FCS opponents (I hate this whole new naming convention and would prefer to still use Division 1-AA), they will need 7 victories to lock up a bowl appearance. This past weekend's win puts them in a prime position to accomplish this goal.
Syracuse is about to start the toughest part of their Big East Conference schedule, with their next 3 games against Pittsburgh, at #25 West Virginia, and at Cincinnati. WVU looks strong, but Pitt and Cincinnati are having disappointing starts to their seasons, so it's not out of the question that SU can steal one of these games. The team has momentum going into this weekend's homecoming game against Pitt, and the fan base should be rallying around the team
The next 3 games on the schedule are against Louisville, Rutgers, and UConn. Syracuse has beaten Louisville the last 2 seasons and beat Rutgers last year. UConn is coming back to the pack this year with some early season struggles, and they just lost to Rutgers this past week. Plus, Syracuse will have the revenge factor on its side after UConn ran up the score with a late touchdown in last year's game. At this point, if the team performs to its potential and doesn't suffer any major injuries, they have a great chance to win all 3 of these games.
The final game is home against Boston College. BC is only 2-3 right now and doesn't seem to be one of the strong teams in the ACC this year, so that would seem to be another game that SU could win. Therefore, if you tally them up, not only does Syracuse have a great chance at a bowl this year, but they could have 8 or 9 wins by the end of the season. This will go a long way to help recruit better players next season and help build the program back to national prominence, which should give the Syracuse fans something to get excited about.
Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports) and like Holdout Sports on Facebook.
