CFN's prediction for our season

[Eric15]

Is there anyone who wouldn't sign up for this with a bowl win to finish 7-6?

2016 Syracuse Football Schedule
2016 Prediction: 6-6
2016 ACC Prediction: 3-5
Sept. 1 Colgate WIN
Sept. 9 Louisville Loss
Sept. 17 South Florida WIN
Sept. 24 at Connecticut WIN
Oct. 1 Notre Dame (in East Rutherford) Loss
Oct. 8 at Wake Forest WIN
Oct. 15 Virginia Tech WIN
Oct. 22 at Boston College Loss
Oct. 29 OPEN DATE
Nov. 5 at Clemson Loss
Nov. 12 NC State WIN
Nov. 19 Florida State Loss
Nov. 26 at Pitt Loss

 

[Mr Peabody]

I'm in. Think we have a better shot at BC than USF.

 

[TheCusian]

I'm in. Think we have a better shot at BC than USF.

Yeah - and game we lose in will be a shootout. BC can't shoot.

 

[djorange1989]

I will take it. Get back to a bowl, play exciting football, get more kids pumped up to come play for us. I am in.

 

[upperdeck]

not sure i would have us losing to BC if we actually got to that game at 5-2.

 

[djorange1989]

I have read all the major magazine pedictions, they all have us 4-8 and in one case 3-9 I believe. Nice that someone has us in a bowl.

 

[HtownOrange]

I have read all the major magazine pedictions, they all have us 4-8 and in one case 3-9 I believe. Nice that someone has us in a bowl.

It's easy to understand why they have the Orange at 4-8 when they refuse to do homework. The last two seasons were wrought with injury after injury (4 QBs in '14 and 3 in '15, without delving deeper into every other position). Regardless, without the depth of injury, those two teams were likely bowl bound. Now add Babers' system (simplified, repetitive, flexible, fast paced) to a team with decent talent, I would not be surprised at 8-4.

 

[CusefanATL]

It's easy to understand why they have the Orange at 4-8 when they refuse to do homework. The last two seasons were wrought with injury after injury (4 QBs in '14 and 3 in '15, without delving deeper into every other position). Regardless, without the depth of injury, those two teams were likely bowl bound. Now add Babers' system (simplified, repetitive, flexible, fast paced) to a team with decent talent, I would not be surprised at 8-4.

we kind of went through 5 qbs in 2015, definitely 4.

(1) Hunt got hurt
(2) Dungey played and got hurt
(3) Wilson came in and shared time with (4) Mahoney
Mahoney got the start
Dungey came back and got hurt
Mahoney started
all while 2nd stringer (5) Long got hurt and couldnt play

 

[44PRIDE]

It's easy to understand why they have the Orange at 4-8 when they refuse to do homework.

We have a new coach implementing a new system on a team made up of players not of his choosing. The only thing we've seen from this squad is a spring practice.

I'm all for wearing orange colored glasses and all, but what would lead anyone to believe that we are anything more than a 4-8 team at this point?

 

[kcsu]

If we had a normal schedule i could see 7 wins however our schedule is brutal. 6 wins would be an amazing opening act for the Dino era

 

[TheCusian]

We have a new coach implementing a new system on a team made up of players not of his choosing. The only thing we've seen from this squad is a spring practice. I'm all for wearing orange colored glasses and all, but what would lead anyone to believe that we are anything more than a 4-8 team at this point?

1. Babers track record in year one is very good.
The Bowling Green team took a step back in his first year, but the team he inherited from Clawson were MAC champs and he lost their #1 QB in game one of the Babers tenure.

2. Within a baffling system and significant injuries to our best offensive player at the most important spot on the field - we finished with 4 wins. We also rolled out the worst Shafer defense in his tenure.

3. Babers has said "we are going to surprise some people this year" and people in the know have suggested that he was pleasantly surprised by some of the offensive talent on the roster. Dungey was pretty good last year as a true freshman. He's going to be better. And the system is roughly 1000x better.

4. There are more than a few teams on our schedule that struggle on offense. Looking at you BC and Wake. I think we blow the doors off of those teams.

 

[Noexcuse]

6 - 8 wins are there to be had. So much depends on injury and just general fatigue as the season progresses. Hopefully we get lucky this year and key players stay healthy and depth is adequate to keep the players relatively fresh.

 

[upperdeck]

I dont really see a brutal schedule, once you get past FSU/Clemson no other game has a team that cant be beaten and it doesnt take an out of our minds good game to win either.

 

[Noexcuse]

I dont really see a brutal schedule, once you get past FSU/Clemson no other game has a team that cant be beaten and it doesnt take an out of our minds good game to win either.

I like that we have Louisville game 2. We will need to be healthy game 12 to beat Pitt but they are definitely beatable.

 

[Scooch]

If we had a normal schedule i could see 7 wins however our schedule is brutal. 6 wins would be an amazing opening act for the Dino era

How is this schedule "brutal"?

We play in the ACC. We play the same 7 teams in the ACC every year. Our cross-over game is at home against VaTech, who was 7-6 last year, has been 29-23 over the past 4 years, and is breaking in new head coach for the first time since Ronald Reagan was President.

Our OOC schedule is Colgate, USF, UConn and ND.

It's a challenge, as basically every P5 schedule is, but "brutal"?

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

we kind of went through 5 qbs in 2015, definitely 4.

(1) Hunt got hurt
(2) Dungey played and got hurt
(3) Wilson came in and shared time with (4) Mahoney
Mahoney got the start
Dungey came back and got hurt
Mahoney started
all while 2nd stringer (5) Long got hurt and couldnt play

I'd argue the 2015 season was actually like this:
Hunt wasn't very good, but got hurt early anyway
Dungey was good and got hurt
Wilson came in and wasn't very good
Mahoney came in and wasn't very good
Dungey came back and got hurt
Mahoney started and wasn't very good
Long wasn't very good, which is why he didn't play and is now at a low 1-AA school

 

[Alsacs]

If we beat both UConn and USF we are going make a bowl. USF at home and @ UConn are the season.

If we go 3-1 in the nonconference we could be 7-5. I think week 2 we could surprise Louisville.
I see 3 wins for sure and 3 losses for sure. We need to split the other 6 games.

 

[Stern]

I dont really see a brutal schedule, once you get past FSU/Clemson no other game has a team that cant be beaten and it doesnt take an out of our minds good game to win either.

I don't think we will be competitive with ND. Hope I am wrong but ND is gonna be really good this year. ND is a 10-2 or 11-1 team this year

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Is there anyone who wouldn't sign up for this with a bowl win to finish 7-6?

2016 Syracuse Football Schedule
2016 Prediction: 6-6
2016 ACC Prediction: 3-5
Sept. 1 Colgate WIN
Sept. 9 Louisville Loss
Sept. 17 South Florida WIN
Sept. 24 at Connecticut WIN
Oct. 1 Notre Dame (in East Rutherford) Loss
Oct. 8 at Wake Forest WIN
Oct. 15 Virginia Tech WIN
Oct. 22 at Boston College Loss
Oct. 29 OPEN DATE
Nov. 5 at Clemson Loss
Nov. 12 NC State WIN
Nov. 19 Florida State Loss
Nov. 26 at Pitt Loss

That BC prediction makes no sense. If I were to put the games in order of likelihood of winning:

Colgate- worst team and at home
NC State- not a good team and at home
BC- 2nd worst team but on road and their HC has game circled
UConn- pretty much same exact thing as I wrote for BC
Wake- on the road and I think they are improved this year. Still worse than us though.
USF- they have some talent but we are at home
VA Tech- not that good a team and we are at home
Louisville- they are a mystery team. Could be medicore again or could be good.
Pitt- I don't think they will be all that great a team but an outdoor game in November might not suit us well. Also if we have 7 losses going in, there is a motivation factor.
ND- they are beatable but are better than the weaker teams above
FSU- too much talent
Clemson- we have two weeks to prep for a blow out


We should beat Colgate (1-0). We likely will lose one of the home games vs NC State, USF, VA Tech (3-1). We could beat all three but I don't think the consistency will be there. We likely will only win only one of road games BC, UConn, Wake (4-3). Again we could beat all three but they are road games and we are young. History says you don't win those even if you are the better team. We likely beat one of Louisville, Pitt, ND (5-5). We could beat any one of those teams. Minor upsets happen all the time and should be expected. I would be shocked if we beat FSU or Clemson (5-7).

I think looking at the schedule it is fair to have SU at 5-7. Mainly because we are a young team. The teams on our schedule are not very hard to beat. The problem is that the weak teams are on the road. If we can win road games, we will make a Bowl no problem. I rather have the easy games on the road and the 50-50 games at home. If you cannot win those road game though, making a Bowl will be more difficult.

 

[JeremyCuse]

The first four games will be key for Syracuse just like they were last year before the team fell apart. We need to be 3-1 after the first four to have a legit shot at a bowl game.

Right now Clemson, FSU, and ND are sure losses. If Lville was later in the year I would like our chances a lot but a Petrino team in week 2 with what looks like a real suspect Defense, will be a hard game to win. That said its nice to see we don't get some combination of Lville, Clemson and FSU back to back to back or with only one game in between like we have the first three years in the ACC.

The 2 wild card games are Pitt and NC State. Really need to win both of these games, seems like we haven't beaten Pitt in forever and NC State is just an average team that we should have beaten last year with any semblance of a defense.

Like always a lot will depend on injuries, players stepping up and what our opponents look like by the time we play them ie injuries, underachieving vs overachieving etc. A 6-6 record would be a good year especially with a brutal 2017 campaign ahead.

 

[TheCusian]

I think we should agree that "guaranteed loss" or "sure loss" should be auto-corrected to "low percentage" or "least likely".

Especially with this coach and this offense.

 

[JeremyCuse]

That BC prediction makes no sense. If I were to put the games in order of likelihood of winning:

Colgate- worst team and at home
NC State- not a good team and at home
BC- 2nd worst team but on road and their HC has game circled
UConn- pretty much same exact thing as I wrote for BC
Wake- on the road and I think they are improved this year. Still worse than us though.
USF- they have some talent but we are at home
VA Tech- not that good a team and we are at home
Louisville- they are a mystery team. Could be medicore again or could be good.
Pitt- I don't think they will be all that great a team but an outdoor game in November might not suit us well. Also if we have 7 losses going in, there is a motivation factor.
ND- they are beatable but are better than the weaker teams above
FSU- too much talent
Clemson- we have two weeks to prep for a blow out


We should beat Colgate (1-0). We likely will lose one of the home games vs NC State, USF, VA Tech (3-1). We could beat all three but I don't think the consistency will be there. We likely will only win only one of road games BC, UConn, Wake (4-3). Again we could beat all three but they are road games and we are young. History says you don't win those even if you are the better team. We likely beat one of Louisville, Pitt, ND (5-5). We could beat any one of those teams. Minor upsets happen all the time and should be expected. I would be shocked if we beat FSU or Clemson (5-7).

I think looking at the schedule it is fair to have SU at 5-7. Mainly because we are a young team. The teams on our schedule are not very hard to beat. The problem is that the weak teams are on the road. If we can win road games, we will make a Bowl no problem. I rather have the easy games on the road and the 50-50 games at home. If you cannot win those road game though, making a Bowl will be more difficult.

That Colgate game might be closer then people think. From what I have researched they return nearly everybody from a playoff team and have a pretty good run/pass balance versus a lot of teams that have almost zero pass game. Not saying were looking at another Nova situation but this team is no Rhode Island, hope we come out prepared to play as I have seen enough dog fight 1AA games to last me a lifetime.

 

[JeremyCuse]

I think we should agree that "guaranteed loss" or "sure loss" should be auto-corrected to "low percentage" or "least likely".

Especially with this coach and this offense.

I like this coach and this offense a lot but lets be honest barring a major injury ( see Clemson's QB two years ago) SU is not winning at Clemson or beating FSU at least not this year.

 

[DoubleDee]

Why does everyone say loss to BC and Pitt? We beat BC last year, and barely lost to Pitt. I say we beat both.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Why does everyone say loss to BC and Pitt? We beat BC last year, and barely lost to Pitt. I say we beat both.

Where is everyone saying that? I think most people have us splitting those two games at worst. With both being on the road I dont' think going 0-2 would be shocking but I don't recall anyone penciling those games as losses like Clemson and FSU.