Syracuse Football: Orange forecast to finish No. 13 out of 15 ACC teams

The national crew at 247Sports isn’t super high on Syracuse football in the upcoming campaign, slotting the Orange near the bottom.

With a brutal road slate confronting Syracuse football in the 2020 season, national experts at 247Sports are projecting that the Orange will come in at No. 13 out of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s 15 squads.

Of the seven guys at 247Sports who cast their complete ACC ballots following the league unveiling its proposed 2020 schedule last week, two of them have the ‘Cuse at No. 14, two put Syracuse football at No. 13, and a trio has the Orange at No. 12.

Clemson, last year’s NCAA runner-up and a group that has captured two national titles in recent years, is unsurprisingly picked as the unanimous ACC champion by the 247Sports panelists.

After the Tigers, in order, are Notre Dame, North Carolina, Miami, Louisville, Virginia Tech, Florida State, Pittsburgh, Virginia, N.C. State, Wake Forest, Duke, the Orange, Georgia Tech, and Boston College.

If we’re looking at the ‘Cuse calendar for this fall, as pertaining to the 247Sports prognostications, then Syracuse football will make trips to No. 1 Clemson, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 North Carolina, No. 5 Louisville, and No. 8 Pittsburgh.

On the flip side, the Orange will host No. 10 N.C. State, No. 11 Wake Forest, No. 12 Duke, No. 14 Georgia Tech, and No. 15 Boston College.

Syracuse football, at least on paper, does seem like it got dealt a particularly daunting line-up of contests from ACC leaders. Yet if you think of it this way, the ‘Cuse road opponents are theoretically so good that the Orange probably wouldn’t win a lot of those match-ups if they came on the Hill, either.

Hopefully, Syracuse football can take care of business in Central New York versus a handful of teams that are deemed as weaker in the conference. That’s the only avenue for the ‘Cuse to attain a post-season bowl berth.

"Check out what Brandon Marcello had to say about the Orange in the 247Sports piece. “I wasn’t expecting much from Syracuse this season, but adding Notre Dame as an away game only furthers my belief that the Orange will fall short with a schedule that includes its toughest games away from home: Clemson, Louisville, North Carolina and Notre Dame.”"

Also last week, a 247Sports story citing William Hill Casino says that Syracuse football has the third-worst odds to capture an ACC crown in 2020.