Some years produce favorable conference schedules, while during other years it seems as though someone in the front office is planning a vendetta against a school. 2025 is a vendetta type of conference schedule for Syracuse.
With last week’s release of the ACC Preseason Poll, what was already known to be a difficult schedule for Syracuse, further jumped into the spotlight. Not only are the Orange playing the top four teams in the conference, but they are playing all four of those games on the road.
Syracuse is traveling to Clemson on September 20th, to SMU on October 4th, to Georgia Tech on October 25th and then to Miami on November 8th. This is only made worse by the fact that the Orange were slotted in at #12 in the preseason poll.
And if you think their out-of-conference schedule will even things out, you’re wrong. The Orange begin their season against Tennessee in Atlanta and then make a late November trip to Notre Dame. So, on top of playing the top four conference teams on the road, they also play two 2024 playoff teams away from Syracuse.
Head coach Fran Brown did a fantastic job during his first season in charge of the Orange in 2024. Syracuse won 10 games for only the third time since 1992, finished 4th in the ACC and defeated Washington State in the Holiday Bowl. But last year’s ACC schedule proved to be favorable as they didn’t play the teams that finished 1st (SMU), 2nd (Clemson) or 5th (Louisville). That won’t be the case in 2025.
Can Coach Brown and the Orange navigate this schedule successfully and replicate a 10-win season? It is unlikely, with a more realistic goal being bowl eligibility. But only time will tell if Syracuse can produce consecutive surprising seasons.
