Syracuse football is 2-0 and is coming off a win over Georgia Tech, a team that was No. 23 in the nation at the time of the game. While the Yellow Jackets fell out of the AP Top 25, the Orange haven’t moved into it yet. SU did, however, receive 63 votes this week, which is the fourth-most by any team that isn’t ranked. This all begs the question: when could Syracuse football get ranked?
September 15th
It’s really hard to move up when you don’t play. The Orange would need lots of losses by teams towards the bottom of the rankings, plus other teams receiving votes. That means SU would need losses from a significant potion of No. 18 Notre Dame (at Purdue), No. 20 Arizona (at No. 14 Kansas State), No. 23 Nebraska (vs. Northern Iowa), No. 24 Boston College (at No. 6 Missouri), Illinois (vs. Central Michigan), and Texas A&M (at Florida).
If you weren’t doing the math, there are a decent amount of teams ahead of Syracuse football that aren’t in action. No. 19 Louisville, No. 21 Iowa State, No. 22 Clemson, No. 25 Northern Illinois, and Boise State are all on a bye this week.
Overall, while there are some ranked teams that have a good chance of losing this week, it isn’t very likely that SU will move into the AP Top 25. The Orange not playing doesn’t help, especially when many teams ranked above them are also idle this week.
There’s even a chance that SU might get even fewer votes next week, given that UNLV, who’s just behind Syracuse in terms of votes, has a big road game against Kansas this Friday.
September 22nd
The chances for Syracuse football to earn a ranking gets a lot better once it’s back in action. While SU only plays Stanford, one of the weaker teams in the ACC, getting to 3-0 and two conference wins will helps the Orange leapfrog at least a few teams ahead of them. The more time that passes, the fewer teams will remain undefeated.
There are also a good amount of ranked teams, plus those that are receiving votes, that could lose during this week of games. This includes No. 23 Nebraska vs. Illinois, No. 22 Clemson vs. NC State, No. 17 Michigan vs. No. 11 USC, No. 19 Louisville vs. Georgia Tech, and No. 24 Boston College vs. Michigan State.
As long as the Orange win during this week, their chances are pretty good to crack the AP Top 25.
September 29th
It’s not much more likely that Syracuse football would end the month of September ranked if it wasn’t already in the Top 25. SU plays Holy Cross, and FCS opponent, that weekend. Winning doesn’t change the Orange’s resume at all.
October 6th
At this point, it’s simple. If Syracuse football is 5-0 after visiting UNLV, it will absolutely be ranked. If the Orange have lost any of their five games, they won’t have a strong enough resume to be in the AP Top 25.
