Syracuse football gains more national attention but still 'underrated,' analyst says

Syracuse football caught the attention of many national observers after squeaking by then-No. 23 Georgia Tech this past Saturday afternoon on the Hill.

The Orange, at 2-0, is inching closer toward a possible appearance in the major top-25 polls. The 'Cuse has a bye coming up, and then it will host new Atlantic Coast Conference member Stanford in a Friday-evening battle on September 20.

Currently, pundits view Miami as the favorite right now to win the ACC title and secure a berth in the 12-team College Football Playoff. At the same time, the ACC does seem a bit wide open, with a lot of games left to be played in the 2024 regular season.

First-year head coach Fran Brown and his team have some challenging games lurking in the near future, but the Orange is off to a strong beginning to the current term. The 'Cuse offense, led by star senior quarterback Kyle McCord, is firing on all cylinders, while the defense fared better in week two, and the special teams unit has work to do.

In any event, the Orange has solid momentum heading into its bye week, and a top analyst believes that Syracuse football is an underrated program in the national landscape.

Syracuse football is commanding more national attention after a 2-0 start.

This week, national analyst Brad Crawford of 247Sports and CBS Sports published a piece where he looked at college squads that are the most overrated and underrated heading into week three.

He described the Orange as underrated, noting McCord's fabulous performance last Saturday as the 'Cuse picked off the Yellow Jackets. Per Crawford, Syracuse football could potentially make an appearance soon in the top-25 polls "if this team continues to push forward."

In the latest AP poll, the Orange is No. 29 overall. The 'Cuse, in the most recent Coaches poll, is tied for No. 28. So if Syracuse football keeps winning, it absolutely could reach the top 25 in a few weeks, if not sooner than that.

In this week's top-25 power rankings from CBS Sports, the Orange arrived at No. 22 around the country. CBS Sports also rates all 134 FBS teams, and in this set of rankings, Syracuse football made a huge jump of 40 spots to No. 33 overall.

ESPN writer Harry Lyles Jr., in this article, had some wonderful things to say about McCord and how the 'Cuse has fared through its first two games of its 2024 campaign. Lyles wrote in part, "It's a small sample, but the vision Brown had for his team (a vision that McCord also saw) coming into this season looks good through eight quarters of football."

As many of my fellow fans have stated on social media in recent days, top-25 rankings are great, but the key is for the Orange to just continue improving, take things one game at a time, and pile up triumphs. I totally agree with that sentiment - and the top-25 ratings will subsequently come, too.