Syracuse Football: SU projected to face one of nation’s toughest schedules

If Syracuse football is going to reach at least six victories this coming season and qualify for a post-season bowl game, the Orange will have to navigate a 2022 schedule that, at least on paper, is among the most challenging dockets across the country.

Brad Crawford, a national analyst with 247Sports, recently put out an interesting piece that detailed the projected 25 toughest schedules in 2022, according to well-respected expert Phil Steele.

By my count, there are four Atlantic Coast Conference squads included in Steele’s rankings of the 25 most brutal 2022 schedules nationwide.

Georgia Tech is No. 3, Louisville is No. 9, the ‘Cuse is No. 12 and Florida State is No. 18, per Steele. In a nutshell, if Syracuse football attains a half-dozen or more triumphs in the upcoming stanza, the Orange will certainly have earned it.

Syracuse football, on paper, has a rough, rough 2022 docket.

I’d like to point out that the ‘Cuse checks in at No. 12 in Steele’s ratings, while perennial College Football Playoff contender and Big Ten Conference heavyweight Ohio State is situated at No. 14.

The top 10, by the way, starts with Auburn at No. 1, followed by Mississippi State, Georgia Tech, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, LSU, Stanford, Indiana, Louisville and Rutgers.

The Orange, which lost its final three battles in 2021 to wrap things up at 5-7, will welcome seven foes to Central New York in 2022 while heading on the road five times.

During its first eight affairs this fall, six are at home, but then over the team’s last quartet of encounters, Syracuse football has a brutal stretch where it heads away from the Hill on three occasions.

See below for the full schedule, including the 2021 marks of the Orange’s opponents in the upcoming campaign. I’m curious what my fellow ‘Cuse fans are predicting the squad’s 2022 record will entail.

Syracuse Football 2022 Docket
September 3 vs. Louisville (6-7 last year)
September 10 at UConn (1-11 last year)
September 17 vs. Purdue (9-4 last year)
September 23 vs. Virginia (6-6 last year)
October 1 vs. Wagner (0-11 last year)
October 15 vs. N.C. State (9-3 last year)
October 22 at Clemson (10-3 last year)
October 29 vs. Notre Dame (11-2 last year)
November 5 at Pittsburgh (11-3 last year)
November 12 vs. Florida State (5-7 last year)
November 19 at Wake Forest (11-3 last year)
November 26 at Boston College (6-6 last year)