Syracuse football keeps climbing the charts in national power rankings
By Neil Adler
Syracuse football, off to its first 5-0 start in a season dating back to 1987, is nationally ranked in the two major top-25 polls. But that’s not all.
The Orange continues to make moves in national power rankings from various media outlets, including CBS Sports and ESPN. Sure, the ‘Cuse has a daunting seven-game slate on the horizon, but clearly, Syracuse football isn’t flying under the radar on a national scale at this juncture in the present term.
On Sunday, the ‘Cuse jumped into the Associated Press poll at No. 22 across the country. Syracuse football also climbed four spots in the Coaches poll to reach No. 21 overall.
These ratings for the Orange in the major polls represent the first time that Syracuse football has resided in such national rankings since 2019.
National pundits are starting to give Syracuse football some well-deserved respect.
Beyond the AP and Coaches polls, both CBS Sports and ESPN have included the ‘Cuse within the top 25 of their latest national power rankings.
Over at ESPN, Syracuse football is No. 24 nationwide. Chip Patterson of CBS Sports, meanwhile, has installed the Orange at No. 22 overall, an improvement of six placements from a week ago.
Over the weekend amid homecoming festivities on the Hill, Syracuse football destroyed FCS team Wagner (0-4) by a final count of 59-0 from the JMA Wireless Dome.
The Orange has a bye week coming up, and then the ‘Cuse will host N.C. State on Saturday, Oct. 15. The Wolfpack (4-1) suffered its first setback of the 2022 stanza this past Saturday evening, as N.C. State lost at No. 5 Clemson by 10 points.
Currently, the Wolfpack is ranked No. 14 nationally in the major polls. Assuming that Syracuse football and N.C. State remain in the polls when their October 15 clash commences, it will mark the first game at the Dome between two ranked teams in 21 years, according to SU Athletics.
The ‘Cuse and the Wolfpack will kick off their Atlantic Coast Conference showdown at 3:30 pm, with the ACC Network providing television coverage.
By the way, Florida State travels to N.C. State this coming weekend. If the Wolfpack holds serve in that encounter and heads to Central New York as a top-15 squad, I think it’s really lame that Syracuse football versus N.C. State won’t be televised on a national broadcast like ABC or even ESPN.