Syracuse Orange News: Justin Barron honored, men's cross country soars, Joe Lunardi

Let's take a spin around some Syracuse Orange sports news.

Per SU Athletics, Syracuse football senior linebacker Justin Barron has been named one of 20 semifinalists for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award, which goes out to a college football player "who shows leadership both on and off the field."

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Barron, who moved from a defensive back to a linebacker earlier in the 2024 season, is one of the leaders of the Orange's defensive unit. When the 'Cuse, on October 12, beat N.C. State on the road, 24-17, Barron was fabulous, recording eight total tackles, an interception, two tackles for a loss, and one sack. He also recovered a fumble.

For that performance, Barron was named the Senior Bowl player of the week as well as an Atlantic Coast Conference player of the week. Syracuse football (5-1, 2-1 in the ACC) travels to No. 19 Pittsburgh (6-0, 2-0 in the ACC) this Thursday night.

More Syracuse Orange news to review.

Syracuse cross country has a huge national climb
Last weekend, at the Pre-Nationals in Madison, Wis., the Orange men's cross-country team had an excellent eighth-place finish. That, in turn, led the 'Cuse to jump 11 spots to No. 12 overall in the national polls.

The Syracuse women's cross-country squad held steady this week at No. 23 nationally. The Orange programs conclude their 2024 regular seasons this Friday at the John Reif Memorial in nearby Ithaca, N.Y., before heading to Cary, N.C., for the ACC Championships on Friday, Nov. 1.

Joe Lunardi's bracketology and the ACC
It's been well-documented by many national and ACC pundits that the league has fared quite well in recent NCAA Tournaments, yet at the same time, this conference has lagged behind others in terms of total number of bids received to the annual Big Dance in recent seasons.

ESPN's resident bracketologist, Joe Lunardi, this week published his latest preseason mock field of 68, and he's got a half-dozen ACC members featured. They are No. 1 seed Duke, No. 3 seed North Carolina, No. 8 seed Wake Forest, No. 8 seed Clemson, No. 11 seed Miami and No. 11 seed Pittsburgh.

Lunardi, in his "next four out" category, has ACC schools Louisville and N.C. State. Syracuse basketball is not in Lunardi's projected field or his just missing the cut categories, although this isn't much of a surprise, given that the ACC's preseason media poll has the Orange at No. 11 in the conference's pecking order.

Three leagues are ahead of the ACC in Lunardi's latest preseason bracketology: the Southeastern Conference and the Big Ten Conference each have 10 participants, while the Big 12 Conference has nine.

The 'Cuse opens its 2024-25 regular season when Syracuse basketball welcomes Le Moyne to the JMA Wireless Dome on Monday, Nov. 4.