Syracuse defeated Wake Forest 41-24 on Saturday, and with plenty of upsets in the middle of the top 25, the Orange figures to move into the top 15 of the College Football Playoff rankings heading into week 11.
On Sunday, Syracuse was ranked No. 13 in both the AP Top 25 and the ESPN/USA Today Coach’s Polls. It is the highest ranking the Orange has had since 1998.
SU, now 7-2, only looks up at Clemson in the ACC standings, and has a chance make a huge statement in two weeks against undefeated Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium. In the meantime, the Orange will host Louisville, who was throttled 77-16 by Clemson and is winless in the ACC, on Friday.
Among the higher ranked teams that lost on Saturday:
- No. 9 Kentucky: Loss to Georgia (34-17)
- No. 11 Florida: Loss to Missouri (38-17)
- No. 14 Penn State: Loss to No. 5 Michigan (42-7)
- No. 15 Utah: Loss to Arizona State (38-20)
- No. 16 Iowa: Loss to Purdue (38-36)
- No. 17 Texas: Loss to No. 13 West Virginia (42-41)
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At seven wins, the Orange is likely locked into at least an ACC ‘Tier 1’ bowl, which means that the floor is the Pinstripe Bowl. The Orange has a strong New York City connection, and would draw a much larger crowd than the Belk (North Carolina) or Military (Maryland) Bowls.
As the Orange continues to rise in the rankings, the Camping World Bowl and the Music City Bowl are increasingly common predictions. Here’s where some of the major media outlets stand on Syracuse after week 10:
- Sports Illustrated: Music City Bowl vs. Vanderbilt.
- SB Nation: Pinstripe Bowl vs. Wisconsin.
- Bleacher Report: Camping World Bowl vs. Texas Tech.
- CBS Sports: Pinstripe Bowl vs. Penn State.
- ESPN: Camping World Bowl vs. Iowa State.
- College Football News: Sun Bowl vs. Oregon.
The Juice Online Bowl Game Prediction (Brad Bierman): As the second highest ranked ACC team on this week’s CFP poll, and presuming Clemson is national semi-final bound, keep winning and Syracuse could be in line for a major Fiesta or Peach Bowl invite or the No. 2 slot in the Camping World Bowl in Orlando.
However, with the Notre Dame and Boston College away games still to come, we currently see the ‘Cuse heading to Nashville to receive a Music City Bowl bid versus the SEC’s Texas A&M.
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