Syracuse Football: New polls include five Orange opponents in the ACC

Nearly a half-dozen Syracuse football foes, both previous ones as well as future ones, are among those rated in this week’s two major polls.

Syracuse football faced off with, and lost to, a pair of nationally ranked teams in its first two weeks of the 2020 campaign. The Orange gets a respite in that regard this coming Saturday afternoon when the ‘Cuse hosts Georgia Tech from the Carrier Dome in the Syracuse football home opener for the fall term.

In the most-recent Associated Press top-25 poll, seven Atlantic Coast Conference squads are featured. They are No. 1 Clemson, No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 11 North Carolina, No. 12 Miami, No. 20 Virginia Tech, No. 21 Pittsburgh and No. 24 Louisville.

Turning to the Coaches top-25 poll, there are five ACC crews included, and they are No. 1 Clemson, No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 12 North Carolina, No. 14 Miami and No. 24 Virginia Tech. The Coaches ballot, this week, includes teams from the Big Ten Conference, which has reversed course and now plans to compete this fall.

The AP top-25 poll also has Virginia and Boston College in the “others receiving votes” category. The Coaches top-25 ballot boasts six ACC groups in the “others receiving votes” department, and they are Pittsburgh, Louisville, Virginia, Boston College, N.C. State and Georgia Tech.

The Syracuse football 2020 schedule, one of the toughest such slates around the country, has five road contests in its overall 11-game calendar. At this juncture, all five of those match-ups for the Orange away from the Hill are versus ranked adversaries – the Tigers, the Fighting Irish, the Tar Heels, the Panthers and the Cardinals.

The ‘Cuse already lost to North Carolina, on Sept. 12 in Chapel Hill, N.C., and to Pittsburgh this past Saturday afternoon from Heinz Field.

Even though the Yellow Jackets are not ranked in the polls this week, Georgia Tech is presently an eight-point favorite over Syracuse football, despite the fact that the Orange is playing at home.

In their season opener on Sept. 12 in Tallahassee, Fla., the Yellow Jackets stunned Florida State, 16-13.