Syracuse Football: Orange is not the top team in the state of New York

CBS Sports picked the best squad in each state, and Syracuse football fell short in New York.

Syracuse football is coming off a disappointing 5-7 record in 2019, and national and Atlantic Coast Conference commentators aren’t real high on the Orange in the upcoming term.

Even though the ‘Cuse went 10-3 in 2018 and finished that year ranked No. 15 in both major polls, it’s fair to say that Syracuse football has struggled a bunch in recent stanzas.

To that end, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the Orange isn’t thought of as the best squad in the state of New York. CBS Sports’ Barrett Sallee and Ben Kercheval have published a piece where they selected the top team in every state as the 2020 campaign inches closer for the ACC and several other leagues, including the Big 12 Conference and the SEC.

In New York, the ‘Cuse didn’t make the cut as the best crew, according to the CBS Sports story. Sallee has Buffalo in the No. 1 position in the Empire State.

Buffalo, not Syracuse football, is the premier unit in the state of New York, according to a national report.

The two CBS Sports writers note a couple of guidelines about their article. For one, they say it’s “not a list of the programs that have had the most all-time success in each state.”

Rather, they are looking at 2019 outcomes “along with a deeper dive over the last two or three years in some cases. Other considerations like head-to-head matchups, championships won and the like were taken into account as necessary.”

They add that these prognostications are not a projection of the 2020 season. Here’s what Sallee had to say about the situation in New York, where Buffalo is on top, and the Orange is not.

"“Army took a step back, Syracuse spun its wheels, and the FCS programs in New York don’t exactly compare to Buffalo. The Bulls went 8-5 and rolled over Charlotte in the Bahamas Bowl. I still have faith that the Orange will get back to state prominence. It hasn’t happened yet, though.”"

I’m sure a lot of ‘Cuse fanatics aren’t shocked by the fact that Syracuse football isn’t deemed the best team in New York. At the same time, there’s clearly got to be some disappointment that this is where the Orange currently resides.

However, as Sallee says, Syracuse football can reclaim the top spot in the Empire State, and a solid 2020 will take the ‘Cuse in the right direction.