Early over/under win total for Syracuse football set at 4.5

It’s been over four years since the Syracuse Orange football program last posted a record of .500 or better, so you can’t blame oddsmakers for being #disloyalidiots when it comes to SU’s upcoming season.

So was the case yet again this past Friday, when BetDSI released the early over/under win totals for the entire ACC, including SU.

Syracuse is all the way down at the bottom, at 4.5 wins on the season -- an improvement from last year, which was four wins flat. It was also four in 2016, and 4.5 again in 2015. As you’re sadly aware, the Orange have gone 4-8 for three straight seasons now.

On the one hand, it’s a bummer to see Syracuse all the way at the bottom, but it’s also tough to blame sportsbooks for having some doubts given recent results and the typically difficult schedule. ESPN’s FPI projections have the Orange at 5.2, which is sort of similar when you’re rounding. But Clemson, Notre Dame and Florida State alone make the slate daunting, before even accounting for schools like Louisville and NC State, who project to be better than Syracuse. Plus the usual toss-ups: Boston College, Wake Forest, Pitt and this year, North Carolina.

While Syracuse’s win total seems pretty reasonable all things considered, others might seem a little high or low. The odds seem to be banking quite a bit on Pitt and UNC improving from last year’s debacles when there’s little to prove they will (especially the Panthers). Wake’s number discounts the loss of John Wolford impacting the Deacons pretty heavily. Louisville’s completely breezes by the fact that the Cardinals struggled at points last year with Lamar Jackson, and now need to find a way to succeed without him.

After four straight seasons of failing to beat the over/under win total, let’s hope Syracuse time to exceed expectations rolls around this year.