Syracuse Football: SU projected to go to Orange Bowl in 2020

The Syracuse football squad is heading to the Orange Bowl in 2020 according to the latest college football bowl projections. Here are the details.

It’s fair to say expectations are through the roof for the Syracuse football squad heading into the 2019-20 season.

That’s the nature of the beast when you go 10-3 and win the Camping World Bowl in emphatic fashion just the year prior. Now Dino Babers’ challenge is to not be occasionally great, but consistently good.

This past season was the first double-digit win season on the hill since 2001 for the Orange. Prior to that, Syracuse had endured four straight sub .500 seasons.

So what is the projection for 2019? Well according to College Football Insider Brett McMurphy, I’d say pretty high via Stadium:

"Orange Bowl – Jan. 1 (ACC vs. SEC/Big Ten/Notre Dame)Projection: Syracuse vs. LSU“Since Clemson will be in the playoff after winning a fifth consecutive ACC title, the next highest-ranked team will head to the Orange Bowl. And I can’t think of a more fitting pairing than the Orange in the Orange. Syracuse will build off last year’s 10-win season under coach Dino Babers with its first Orange Bowl appearance since 1998, when it was in the Big East.Syracuse’s opponent will be LSU, as the highest-ranked team from the SEC, Big Ten or Notre Dame after the playoff and Rose and Sugar bowls are filled. The Tigers are no strangers to bowl games, having gone to a bowl the past 19 consecutive years, the second-longest current streak in the SEC. If they end up in Miami, it would be their first trip to the Orange Bowl since 1982.”"

Syracuse would’ve likely been in the Orange Bowl this past season, instead of the Camping World Bowl, if not for the annual rotation of bowl games. This past season the College Football Playoff featured the Cotton and Orange Bowl respectively. Which means Syracuse would’ve had to make the College Football Playoff to participate in the game.

While to many the thought of Syracuse appearing in the College Football Playoff seems like a pipe dream, it wasn’t too far off from actually happening in 2018. The Orange appeared in every edition of the rankings and were minutes away from taking out the eventual National Champion Clemson Tigers in their own building. If Syracuse would’ve won that game, their entire season changes. But that’s all in the past and Syracuse must look ahead to the present and future.

Which speaking of, the 2019 Syracuse football schedule has already been revealed and while certainly, it has its’ fair share of challenges there’s a path for Syracuse to fulfill Brett McMurphy’s prophecy of the Orange getting to the Orange Bowl.

If Brett McMurphy’s crystal ball prediction is right, I think it may be officially time to say Syracuse football is back and better than ever with Tommy DeVito at the helm for the Orange.