Well, Saturday was pretty cool. Tommy DeVito arrived. The dome got loud again. Syracuse is now receiving votes in a freaking AP Top 25 poll and, of course, Dino did his thing after the game.
Man does that guy have a brand. That one clocked in at roughly a 9.3/10 on the “I’m ready to run through a brick-wall-meter.”
Now, I‚Äôve seen some pretty rash predictions about the rest of the season after that performance. A 7-1 start has been floated around. A 9-3 season may have been mentioned a couple times. Before we say some stuff we‚Äôre gonna regret, let‚Äôs actually take a step back, dissect this thing a little bit and put on our thinking caps.¬†Let‚Äôs pretend we are college basketball saber-nerds and break-down each of SU’s remaining games left into quadrants.
Quadrant 1: “Near-lock, light-day at the office for punter Sterling Hofrichter, high probability of a Jarveon Howard TD”
Quadrant 2: “Should be a win but it would be a classic Syracuse loss while on pace to get to a bowl game and injuries are a thing in football therefore anything can happen”
Quadrant 3: “Ehhhhh I’m really nervous and have a bad feeling about this but like it’s virtually a toss-up and I hope the SU secondary doesn’t self destruct”
Quadrant 4: “Some guy in vegas probably has them losing by a lot, but I’m probably going to talk myself into them having a chance to win all week only to be disappointed”
Quadrant 5: “If they win this game, I’m selling my house, buying an RV and chasing this team to the CFP.”
UCONN
Quadrant 1: “Near-lock, light-day at the office for punter Sterling Hofrichter, high probability of a Jarveon Howard TD”
They barely beat Rhode Island 56-49 in an old-fashion run-and-gun northeastern shootout last week to improve to 1-2 overall. UCONN is objectively really just not good at football.
Crazy prediction of something that actually might happen: Chance Aimee picks up a rushing TD.
Win percentage: 94%
@Clemson
Quadrant 5: “If they win this game, I’m selling my house, buying an RV and chasing this team to the CFP.”
One can dream. But let’s be real, Castle Court actually might end up in the Upside Down with a win. (Shoutout, Stranger Things). By the way, this game is going to be a nooner like FSU, except on ABC.
Crazy prediction of something that actually might happen: The SU store might run out of blue shirts that week from people frantically trying to purchase a non-orange Syracuse themed article of clothing to wear at the game.
Win percentage: 7.3%
@Pittsburgh
Quadrant 3: “Ehhhhh I’m really nervous and have a bad feeling about this but like it’s virtually a toss-up and I hope the SU secondary doesn’t self destruct”
Yeah, this really feels like a game Orange fans might have nightmares about for a while. On the other hand, as far as road games go, this is pretty winnable.
Crazy prediction of something that actually might happen: The stats of the 76-61 game last time might get mentioned over 1,000,000 times during the broadcast.
Win percentage: 47.2%
UNC
Quadrant 2: “Should be a win but it would be a classic Syracuse loss while on pace to get to a bowl game and injuries are a thing in football therefore anything can happen”
The Heels are 0-2, including an embarrassing loss to ECU. Mitch Trubisky is not walking through that door.
Crazy prediction of something that actually might happen: UNC might be 0-5 going into this game.
Win percentage: 67%
NC State
Quadrant 3: “Ehhhhh I’m really nervous and have a bad feeling about this but like it’s virtually a toss-up and I hope the SU secondary doesn’t self destruct”
This is literally the definition of a toss-up at this point.
Crazy prediction of something that actually might happen: John Gillon is honored at halftime to a standing ovation on the field after playing highlights of his game against NC State on the video board.
Win percentage: 49% (I really just don’t know)
@WakeForest
Quadrant 3: “Ehhhhh I’m really nervous and have a bad feeling about this but like it’s virtually a toss-up and I hope the SU secondary doesn’t self destruct”
Wake Forest so far: Tulane W/OT. Towson easy win. BC L by 7. You gotta win a road game. This is a good chance.
Crazy thing that actually might happen: Syracuse may get a win after the bye AND on the road in the Dino Babers era
Win percentage: 53%
Louisville
Quadrant 3: “Ehhhhh I’m really nervous and have a bad feeling about this but like it’s virtually a toss-up and I hope the SU secondary doesn’t self destruct”
This one could honestly fall into the quadrant 2. Louisville is not the same without Lamar Jackson. But, they still probably have more talent than SU.
Crazy thing that actually might happen: After a road win at Wake, dare I say Syracuse might be ranked going into this game? (Don’t @ me)
Win percentage: 56%
Notre Dame (@ Yankee Stadium)
Quadrant 4: “Some guy in vegas probably has them losing by a lot, but I’m probably going to talk myself into them having a chance to win all week only to be disappointed”
They are beatable but let’s not forget the last time the Irish and Orange met at a neutral site. It got ugly early.
Crazy thing that actually might happen: Syracuse will get to six wins with a victory and shockingly turn down the inevitable invitation to come back for the Pinstripe Bowl at the door.
Win percentage: 27%
Boston College
Quadrant 3: “Ehhhhh I’m really nervous and have a bad feeling about this but like it’s virtually a toss-up and I hope the SU secondary doesn’t self destruct”
BC is ranked 23rd in the latest top 25. They are as good as they’ve been since 07’.
Crazy thing that actually might happen: Fans might show up to a game at Alumni Stadium. 
Win percentage: 39%
Recap
So we’ve got
1: Easy win (UCONN)
1: Should be a win (UNC)
5: Toss-ups (@ Pitt, NC State, @ Wake, Louisville, @BC)
1: Should be a loss (Notre Dame)
1: Probably blowout loss (Clemson)
After crunching the numbers, the calculator says 7-5. Comment/respond with what you think SU’s final record is below.
