Syracuse Football: Should the Orange have received AP votes?

The college football preseason AP Top 25 poll has been released ahead of the 2020 season. Syracuse football was not included, but they sure could of.

Syracuse football was ranked 22nd in the 2019 AP Preseason Poll and that didn’t hold up well for the Orange. They finished 5-7 which included some not so fun blowouts. Dino Babers didn’t get the guys around for a nice 2-1 finish. All in all, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

But there is new hope for 2020! The Orange return their signal-caller in Tommy DeVito and have a solid group of veteran offensive linemen. The defense could be shaky, but they do boast on one of the top safeties in the country in Andre Cisco. Overall, the season could go a lot of ways, but there is a good amount of talent, so a .500 finish or above is certainly in the cards.

The 2020 preseason rankings have ACC foe Clemson in the top spot. Other conference members are Notre Dame (yes, we consider them ACC for this season) at 10, and North Carolina at 18. Virginia Tech, Miami, Louisville, Virginia, and Florida State are all receiving votes.

There are a lot of idiosyncracies with the poll, as plenty of Big Ten and Pac 12 schools are ranked and receiving votes. The problem here? Those conferences already canceled the fall season, and won’t be playing football until at least the spring.

For Syracuse and the ACC, that isn’t the case. They are pressing toward a fall season and are quickly approaching it. The Orange is scheduled to play at North Carolina on September 12. That’s now less than three weeks away and the clock seems to be ticking on if it will really happen or not.

Besides that point, there is an argument to be made that the AP Poll should only include teams that will actually play this fall because otherwise, it will create so much havoc it won’t even be worth having a poll. In that case, Syracuse football should easily be receiving votes.

But there’s also the argument that they should be getting votes already. After all, a 5-7 season isn’t too dismal, and a 2-1 finish is pretty commendable. They showed a lot of grit at the end of last year and with the talent they bring back, Syracuse football will not be an easy out for any team.

No matter the case, the Orange will have to prove it on the field. Last year, they let a lot of hopefuls down, but this is a new year. They can salvage that with a .500 season or better and continue the rise of Syracuse football.