The loser of the Syracuse Orange - Pittsburgh Panthers game will be 5-7 and their season will be over. The winner will be 6-6 and will likely be playing in a bowl that takes places between December 17th and December 24th.
The obvious selection is the Beef O'Brady Bowl but because of the weird issues that exist with Notre Dame and the potential glut of Big East bowl teams, games like the New Orleans Bowl or Las Vegas Bowl aren't out of the question.
But that's getting ahead of ourselves. Syracuse needs to win the game and that's something that hasn't been easy to do recently.
It wouldn't be a week in Syracuse football if someone's season wasn't ended. This time is Adonis Ameen-Moore, who is having surgery Friday to fix an "upper body injury." Unfortunately, it looks like Ameen-Moore should have been redshirted after all.
At least Ameen-Moore still has a career ahead of him. Tougher news is that co-captain and starting fullback Adam Harris' football career is over following a concussion he suffered last week.
The Cornell transfer played in 11 games this season and had two carries for 10 yards and six receptions for 31 yards and a touchdown. Expect Tombe Kose to get the start this weekend against Pittsburgh.
There's a lot of Syracuse schools records set to fall or be re-written on Saturday. Sir Alec Lemon is currently tied with Kevin Johnson and Mike Williams for most catches in a season (60). With one catch, he'll surpass them all, as well as Marvin Harrison. Not too shabby.
"I feel like I’m having a good season," the junior wide receiver said Tuesday night. "But I always have high expectations for myself. I’ve always wanted to be great. So I would say good season, but I want to be great."
Antwon Bailey has already etched his name in the records books in multiple places. He eclipsed the 2,000 yard mark, passing Jim Brown for 17th all-time. He's second on SU’s all-time list for career yards by a running back and he's already the team’s career RB leader in catches, with 86. He has 998 yards on the season this year and should cross the 1,000 mark pretty early.
Ryan Nassib had 19 completions on Saturday, giving him a total of 236 on the season. Not only is that a school record but combined with the 202 completions he threw in 2010, he is the only quarterback in Syracuse history to have connected 200 times in a campaign and he's now done it twice.