In his seven years as the head coach of Syracuse, Dino Babers has made just two bowl games. The Camping World bowl in 2018, when the Orange finished the season ranked 15th in the country and last year’s Pinstripe bowl. This year, the goal for Babers is to play an extra game once again.
Last year nine ACC teams won six games. Out of our five Orange Fizz staff members, three think that SU will finish that high this season while two think the Orange will finish either 10th or 11th. At ESPN though, the optimism for Syracuse is pretty high. In the preseason bowl projections released earlier this week, both of ESPN’s analysts have SU playing in December.
Mark Schlabach – Military Bowl vs. Memphis
The first game ESPN projects Syracuse to make is an ACC vs American match-up. Last year’s Military Bowl saw Duke beat UCF 30-13. This is an intriguing game for the Orange to be in considering the location. The game is played at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland. The area is full of SU alumni. The Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles held SU nights this season and saw great turnouts. Syracuse has never played in the Military Bowl and hasn’t played in the DMV since the 2019 Maryland game.
Kyle Bonagura – Duke’s Mayo Bowl vs. Mississippi State
The first matchup was an intriguing one but I think that this has it beat for a multitude of reasons. First, a matchup vs. Mississippi State would mean a revenge game for Garrett Shrader who started his career with the Bulldogs. Second, the Duke’s Mayo Bowl has a tradition in which the winning coach gets doused, in a bath of mayonnaise. I think that all of us would love to see Dino Babers celebrating his first bowl in five years that way.
