Syracuse football needs to win one of its two remaining 2026 regular-season games to qualify for a postseason bowl for the second time in head coach Fran Brown's three campaigns at the program's helm.
It's as simple as that. The Orange (5-5 overall, 3-5 in ACC) put itself in a solid position to make a bowl game at the end of the 2026 season when the 'Cuse stormed back to beat N.C. State on Saturday, 34-31. It was a thrilling - and nerve-racking - Atlantic Coast Conference encounter.
If SU didn't prevail against the Wolfpack, that would have made it much more difficult for Syracuse football to reach a bowl game in the current campaign. That's because the Orange's regular-season finale is against No. 5 Notre Dame (9-1 overall) at home near the end of November. The Fighting Irish is in great shape to potentially make the 12-team College Football Playoff, and Notre Dame demolished the 'Cuse in the 2025 campaign.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. First up, Syracuse football will travel to Boston College this coming Saturday afternoon. The Orange and the Eagles are scheduled to kick off at noon EST on November 21 at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Mass., with the ACC Network airing this conference clash.
Syracuse football needs to just take care of business against Boston College to qualify for a bowl game.
Now, the Eagles aren't having a good 2026 season. Boston College (4-6 overall, 2-4 in ACC) has lost three straight games. Most recently, the Eagles were thumped by Notre Dame on the road, 41-7. At the time of this writing on Sunday afternoon, early odds from FanDuel had the Orange as a 3.5-point betting favorite against Boston College, with the over/under set at 50.5 points.
On the face of it, the 'Cuse has an excellent shot at knocking off the Eagles and getting to that sixth win before Notre Dame visits the JMA Wireless Dome. However, Syracuse football has dropped three consecutive meetings with Boston College. Last time out, in November 2025, the Eagles smoked the Orange on the Hill, 34-12.
Granted, last season was last season. Still, the 'Cuse cannot take Boston College lightly, regardless of how the Eagles are currently playing in 2026. In their all-time series together, Syracuse football is 34-25 against Boston College.
On Sunday, at least two national media outlets had the Orange in their latest bowl projections. More could come in as other media entities publish their updated bowl forecasts. Let's have a look.
Steven Lassan, Athlon Sports
Syracuse football against Big Ten Conference member Wisconsin at the Pinstripe Bowl on December 26 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, N.Y. This weekend, the Badgers (6-4 overall, 4-3 in Big Ten) fell at Maryland, 24-21.
Brad Crawford, CBS Sports
Syracuse football against Sun Belt Conference school Marshall (5-5 overall, 2-4 in Sun Belt) at the inaugural San Juan Bowl on December 16 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In its most recent game, the Thundering Herd lost at home to Appalachian State, 20-16.
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