Week 13 Bowl Prediction: Syracuse football still in line for Music City Bowl

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Syracuse running back Dontae Strickland (4) rushes for a touchdown against Wagner. Mandatory Photo Credit: Kicia Sears, The Juice Online.

Syracuse was trounced by Notre Dame, 36-3, on Saturday, but with some other teams losing in the top 25, Syracuse was able to retain a spot in the top 20.

On Sunday, Syracuse was ranked No. 19 in both the AP Top 25 and the ESPN/USA Today Coach’s Polls.

SU, now 8-3, finishes the regular season with a trip to Boston College, which dropped out of the rankings after a loss to Florida State. The Boston College loss may also help Syracuse get to a higher bowl game, with SU at eight wins and the Eagles at seven.

Here are the losses among the top 25:

  • No. 9 West Virginia: Loss to Oklahoma State (45-41)
  • No. 16 Iowa State: Loss to No. 15 Texas (24-10)
  • No. 20 Boston College: Loss to Florida State (22-21)
  • No. 24 Cincinnati: Loss to No. 11 UCF (38-13)

» Related: Offensive struggles sink Syracuse in loss against Notre Dame

Here’s where some of the major media outlets stand on Syracuse after week 12:

The most precipitous drop for Syracuse among the major publications was College Football News, which dropped Syracuse from the Fiesta Bowl last week down to the Pinstripe Bowl this week. SB Nation moved Syracuse from the Camping World Bowl to the Pinstripe, while Sports Illustrated moved SU from the Camping World Sports to the Sun Bowl. ESPN and Bleacher Report kept SU in the Camping World Bowl.

The Juice Online Bowl Game Prediction (Brad Bierman): With one week left in the regular season we know that Syracuse is guaranteed no worse than an 8-4, 5-3 finish in this turnaround season even with a loss Saturday at Boston College (12:00 p.m. ET / ESPN-Sirius XM), and 9-3, 6-2 would, in our opinion, cement the third spot in ACC bowl selection order behind Clemson (College Football Semifinals) and Pittsburgh (Coastal Division winner that beat SU head-to-head).

North Carolina State could also finish 9-3 with wins over North Carolina and East Carolina on Dec. 1 (a game postponed in September due to Hurricane Florence), but the ‘Cuse beat N.C. State in their meeting in the Dome. No other ACC team can win nine games, unless Pittsburgh beats both Miami then shocks Clemson in the conference championship game also on Dec. 1.

The two factors in deciding the final bowl order are this is rivalry week for three 7-4 Coastal teams; Duke meeting Wake Forest, Georgia Tech playing Georgia, Virginia against Virginia Tech, and, of course 7-4, 4-3 B.C. hosting the Orange.

Based on the standings among the top five teams after Clemson, and which teams played where in last year’s bowl lineup, we see Pittsburgh playing in the Camping World Bowl, N.C. State to the Belk Bowl, Virginia to the Sun Bowl, Georgia Tech to the Pinstripe Bowl… and Syracuse to the Music City Bowl and we’re back to Texas A&M as the opponent. Texas A&M hosts current No. 7 LSU Saturday night.

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About Wes Cheng 2907 Articles
Wes has worked for Rivals.com covering the New York Knicks, as well as for Scout.com covering Syracuse athletics. Wes has also been a contributing writer for the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), for SportsNet New York (SNY) as a news desk writer covering all of New York professional sports, and reported on the NBA and MLB for the New York Sportscene. A native of Long Island, New York, Wes graduated from Syracuse University in 2005 with a degree in journalism. Contact him at wes[at]sujuiceonline.com.