Before the 2022 college football season started, we wrote a Syracuse football outlook that listed the team’s win total at 4.5 games. We went on to explain why we would’ve taken the under.
The Orange, however, have already exceeded expectations barely into the month of October. After blowing out Louisville to start the season and securing close wins over Purdue and Virginia, Cuse steamrolled past overmatched Wagner 59-0 last week, covering at 52.5-point favorites to officially go past the 4.5-win total.
Quarterback Garrett Shrader was a perfect 17-17 in the win, and Sean Tucker ran for over 230 yards to take the ACC lead in rushing.
After the school’s first 5-0 start since 1987, the Orange are ranked at No. 22 in the AP Top 25 poll and are enjoying their bye week. They will need that time to prepare, however, because the road is going to get a lot tougher.
Wolfpack Coming to the Dome to Start Difficult Stretch of Games
Syracuse’s next six opponents were all ranked at some point this season, and four still are. The difficult stretch begins Saturday, Oct. 15 when No. 14 North Carolina State comes to the JMA Wireless Dome. It’s the first matchup of ranked teams in Syracuse since 2001, when the No. 22 Orange beat No. 25 Boston College 39-28.
Here are the odds for that game, courtesy of DraftKings. Note that only the point spread is out at this point, with the game over a week away.
| TEAM | SPREAD | OVER-UNDER | MONEYLINE |
| North Carolina State Wolfpack | -4 | — | — |
| Syracuse Orange | +4 | — | — |
If the Orange can get by the Wolfpack, then they’ll face No. 5 Clemson on the road. The Tigers have already defeated the Wolfpack and then-No. 21 Wake Forest and will face off with Florida State the week before they play the Orange. The last time Syracuse was ranked, the led in the fourth quarter in Death Valley before falling 27-23. Last season, the Tigers won 17-14 at the Dome on a last-second field goal.
Following the Clemson game, Syracuse’s next four games are as follows: vs. Notre Dame, at Pittsburgh, vs. Florida State, and at No. 15 Wake Forest. The final game of the year is at Boston College.
Syracuse’s Odds to Win ACC Championship Shrink Dramatically
At the start of the season, the Orange were +15000 to win the ACC football championship. Now, FanDuel has the Orange as the fifth-most likely team to win the championship, but they will need to score some big wins over the next two months to do it.
| TEAM | CURRENT ODDS TO WIN ACC TITLE | PRESEASON ODDS |
| Clemson | -250 | -150 |
| North Carolina | +950 | +1100 |
| Miami (FL) | +950 | +500 |
| Florida State | +1600 | +3300 |
| Syracuse | +1900 | +15000 |
Clemson and Syracuse’s battle will be for the inside track in the Atlantic Division if the Orange are able to upset the Wolfpack. On the Coastal side, North Carolina is 1-0 in conference play but has a loss, and Miami hasn’t played an ACC game yet but is just 2-2 on the season, including a shocking loss at home to Middle Tennessee State.
We didn’t predict Syracuse well, but we’ll take one more shot at it with the Orange currently sitting at 5-0.
Remaining wins: Notre Dame, Florida State, Boston College
Remaining losses: North Carolina State, Clemson, Pittsburgh, Wake Forest
Final prediction: 8-4
