Just a few weeks ago, it seemed inevitable that Syracuse football would be ranked. All the Orange likely needed to do was take down a Stanford team that has had recent struggles.
Well…that didn’t happen. And as a result, any hopes of Syracuse being ranked dropped. The Orange went from being on the Top 25 bubble to receiving no votes.
But after a blowout over Holy Cross and an upset win over #25 UNLV on Friday night, it seems the tides may be turning once again. Here’s your Week Seven Syracuse poll update.
AP Poll
Until the College Football Playoff poll starts, this is the one that matters. And two voters are quite high on Syracuse. While 58 voters did not have Syracuse on their ballot at all, two put SU all the way up at 23 (shoutout Stephen Means of cleveland.com and John Steppe of the Cedar Rapids Gazette)!
That gave Syracuse six points, which was good for 35th-most in the nation. A ways away from the actual top-25, but a step in the right direction.
How about Syracuse’s opponents? After another near-survival win by Miami, the Hurricanes jumped two spots up to #6 heading into their bye week.
The Orange got a little strength of schedule boost from Pitt, who made the jump from just outside at #28 to #22, as the Panthers stay undefeated at 5-0.
And that’s it! No other SU opponents even received votes this week. But with both Pitt and Miami still ahead on the schedule, the Orange have two major prove-it opportunities.
A similar picture was shown in this week’s USA Today Coaches Poll. The Orange were rated slightly lower, tied for 44th with Arizona State. Both teams received one vote.
As for opponents, the voters are also high on Miami, who rose to #6 in this poll as well. Pitt broke into the rankings, moving up three spots to #24.
The one big difference is in the received votes section, where UNLV, who Syracuse just beat, received 11 votes. That was 33rd-most among teams.
