College football is less than 48 hours away! While there are only four games in week 0, and Syracuse football doesn’t play, there’s still relevant games for Orange fans. Here’s who to root for if you want the best-case scenario for the ‘Cuse.
New Mexico vs. Montana State: N/A
Neither of these teams play Syracuse football, are in the ACC, or have any connection to the Orange this season. You can watch this one and cheer for whoever your heart desires.
Hawai’i vs. Delaware State: N/A
Same thing here. If you want to stay up for a midnight start, that’s on you, because this game has no implications for Syracuse football.
Georgia Tech vs. #10 Florida State: Georgia Tech
An ACC game means there’s definitely something for Orange fans to watch for. At the very least, it gives you a chance to see Georgia Tech, who SU hosts on September 7th. However, you should also root for the Yellow Jackets. Syracuse football plays Georgia Tech this year, but not Florida State. That means that a Yellow Jackets victory would increase SU’s strength of schedule. That’s not likely to mean anything statistically, but a Syracuse win over a Georgia Tech will mean a lot more if the Yellow Jackets just beat a top-ten team. Plus, it delivers a conference loss to Florida State, the reigning ACC champions. That could help SU’s chances to reach the conference title game.
Nevada vs. SMU: Nevada
Syracuse football doesn’t have SMU on its ACC slate this year, so there’s no benefit in SMU being seen as a better team. Instead, the Mustangs falling would be better for the Orange. If both SU and SMU are great this year, an early-season non-conference loss by the Mustangs would give the Orange an advantage in a situation where the two programs are battling for selection in an ACC-affiliated bowl game.
