Final projections place Syracuse in the Pinstripe Bowl

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Syracuse defeats West Virginia in the 2012 New Era Pinstripe Bowl. Mandatory Photo Credit: Brad Bierman, The Juice Online.

Earlier in the week, a majority of publications projected Syracuse playing in AAC opponent in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl after SU finished the regular season 7-5.

But in the past week, those projections have started to shift toward Syracuse playing in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl in New York City because of academic scheduling issues. That would pit the Orange against a Big 10 opponent on Dec. 29 at 2 p.m. at Yankee Stadium.

This makes sense on a variety of different levels for the Orange. Aside from playing in its largest geographic recruiting footprint in the tri-state area, Syracuse has its largest alumni base in the New York City area.

SU has previously played in the 2010 (Kansas State) and 2012 (West Virginia) Pinstripe Bowls as well, winning both.

The following publications have the Orange playing Wisconsin:

Wisconsin (6-6, 4-5 Big 10): The Badgers are more known for their headlines off the field this season than on it. Though Paul Chryst guided Wisconsin to a 67-26 record (43-18 Big 10) over his 7+ seasons with the Bagers, he was dismissed midseason after a 2-3 start and a blowout against Ohio State. DC Jim Leonhard was the interim coach for the 2022 season, but Luke Fickell will come over from Cincinnati (he finished 9-3 this season in the AAC) to take over the program in 2023.

While College Football News has the Orange playing in the Pinstripe Bowl, they project SU going up against a different opponent in the Maryland Terrapins.

Maryland (7-5, 4-5): The Terrapins jumped out to a 6-2 start, with its only two losses coming to eventual Big-10 West Champion Purdue, and No. 2 Michigan by a combined 9 points. But Maryland faded down the stretch, losing three of its last four games, including a 30-0 thumping against Penn State. Taulia Tagovailoa, brother of Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua, threw for 2,787 yards and 17 touchdowns in his senior campaign.

» Related: Syracuse rallies late to defeat Boston College in regular season finale

Only one other publication, The Sporting News, has SU in an alternate bowl. TSN projects Syracuse matching up against SMU in the Servpro First Responder Bowl played on Dec. 27 at the Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas.

The conference tie-ins are with the AAC, Big 12 and ACC.

SMU (7-5, 5-3 AAC): The Mustangs finished the regular season on a dramatic note when Brandon Crossley intercepted Memphis’ Seth Henigan in the endzone with two seconds left to give SMU a 34-31 win. The Mustangs’ five losses came against TCU, UCF, Cincinnati, Tulane and Maryland, with only the Terrapins finishing the season unranked. Quarterback Tanner Mordecai threw for 3,306 yards and 31 touchdowns, with many of those going to receiver Rashee Rice, who hauled in 96 passes for 1,355 yards and 10 scores.

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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.