Phil Steele, one of the top experts in college football, has reinforced what many Syracuse fans already knew: the Orange's 2025 schedule is brutal, brutal, brutal.
Steele, per this On3 article and also via philsteele.com, notes that in the 2025 season, Syracuse football has the toughest schedule in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Recruiting service and media outlet 247Sports also recently echoed that sentiment.
Awesome.
It makes sense, though. Just look at the Orange's four ACC road games. The 'Cuse is traveling to Clemson, SMU, Georgia Tech and Miami. Clemson won the ACC title in 2024 and is likely the favorite to repeat in 2025.
SMU made the 12-team College Football Playoff a season ago. As did Clemson. I think that Miami will contend for the No. 2 spot in the ACC this coming term. Georgia Tech, led by quarterback Haynes King, should be sneaky good.
Syracuse football's home ACC calendar is more manageable. It includes Duke, Pittsburgh, North Carolina and Boston College. If the Orange wants to come close to mirroring its record from 2024, the 'Cuse has to go at least 3-1, if not 4-0, at the JMA Wireless Dome.
Phil Steele also grades Syracuse football's 2025 schedule on a national scale.
Per Steele, if we're talking about nationally speaking, the Orange's 2025 slate is No. 5 overall.
Awesome.
Again, I get it. On top of the 'Cuse ACC calendar, the team's non-conference schedule is pretty darn enticing - and challenging. The Orange has September home affairs with UConn and Colgate, and Syracuse football should win both of these.
But its other two non-conference encounters are against Tennessee, in Atlanta, to open the 2025 season, as well as a late November trip to Notre Dame. The Volunteers made the most recent CFP, while the Fighting Irish got to the national championship game, losing to Ohio State.
It's no wonder that when Steele recently projected the ACC's order of finish in 2025, he placed Syracuse football at No. 12 in a league that has 17 members in football.
Let's keep in mind that preseason prognostications are just that - preseason prognostications. In 2024, as Fran Brown made his head-coaching debut on the Hill, the Orange was projected to finish No. 12 in the ACC. The 'Cuse would end up in a tie for the fourth spot.
I can't wait for Syracuse football to get going.