A few weeks ago, Syracuse beating NC State almost certainly would have placed them in the top 25.
But, a few Wolfpack losses and injuries later, their stock faded. With it, Syracuse beating NC State meant a little bit less to voters.
But it doesn’t mean it didn’t mean anything. The Orange are back to near where they were in the polls before losing to Stanford. Here’s SU’s Week 8 poll outlook:
AP Top 25
After receiving the 36th-most votes last week, SU jumped three spots this week into a tie for 33rd with Arkansas.
The Orange got seven more votes than last week, going from six to thirteen. This was fueled by more voters noticing SU. Two voters ranked the Orange in week seven, compared to six this week (three for #23, one for #24 and two for #25).
Looking at the rest of the rankings, Miami held steady at #6 as the Hurricanes continued to pace the ACC. SU’s next opponent, Pitt, moved into the last spot of the Top 20 with its 6-0 start.
In the received votes section, UNLV, who SU beat two weeks ago, received one vote.
The Coaches Poll looked quite similar to the AP Top 25 this week. The Orange also received 13 votes, which ranked as the 31st-most. That’s 12 more votes than SU had a week ago.
#6 Miami and #20 Pitt are the two ranked opponents for the Orange, and they hold the same spots as the AP Poll.
UNLV received a little more love from the coaches with 12 votes. That puts the Rebels just one spot behind SU.
The bottom line
SU only has two ranked opponents left this season, and Pitt is certainly the easier of the two to beat. If Syracuse can get over its bye-week woes and end the Panther’s undefeated start, the Orange will almost certainly be ranked heading into November.
