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The history of TNIAAM’s football coverage is highlighted by many a quest. Mostly, these have ended in vain. Sometimes, the quest would seemingly be completed, and yet, we never tasted the sweet beef we searched for. Last year, we quested for Bad Boy Mowers and Gasparilla. We got neither, but were still happy since the outcome wound up being far better than that.
And so in that spirit, we set upon a new quest this year. A quest for a Tiger. A quest for a balanced breakfast. A Quest for Tony.
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PRESEASON/ WEEK 0 BOWL PROJECTIONS
Independence Bowl
College Football News: vs. Tulane Green Wave (John and Dan prepare flights)
Sun Bowl
USA Today: vs. USC Trojans
Belk Bowl
247 Sports: vs. Tennessee Volunteers
Camping World Bowl
Bleacher Report: vs. Oklahoma State Cowboys
Belk Bowl
CBS Sports: vs. Kentucky Wildcats
Pinstripe Bowl
Banner Society: vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers (the “Special Place” Bowl)
Orlando Sentinel: vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers
Orange Bowl
Stadium: vs. LSU Tigers
ESPN (Bonaguara): vs. LSU
Athlon Sports: vs. Florida
The Athletic: vs. Ohio State Buckeyes
ESPN (Schlabach): vs. Penn State Nittany Lions
Normally, I’d comment on each bowl grouping and the likelihood blah blah... But it’s the beginning of the season so I’m going to make this easy; We’re looking at Syracuse’s bowl projections in two groups:
Group 1: All non-Orange Bowls: These are the people projecting Syracuse in line with most statistical models (7.5 wins) and thus finishing in the top half of the ACC, but away from the top tier. The bowls vary based on where they think the rest of the ACC ends up, but ultimately, this is in line with most projections on SU’s season.
Group 2: The Orange Bowl. It’s 2019, and Dino Babers is entering his fourth year as Orange coach, having worked the program to a place where Smart College Football People (TM) are legitimately talking about Syracuse heading to the Orange Bowl. These are the people looking at a still-below-average ACC, a relatively weaker than normal schedule and having belief without evidence that Dino will overcome a new QB to finish second in the ACC by season’s end. That. Is. Wild. Could it happen? Absolutely.
What’s key to the above as the season shapes: Notre Dame. This year, the Orange Bowl can take Notre Dame if they’re ranked above all available ACC teams — a distinct possibility. So there’s still very little guaranteed for SU unless they wind up above the Irish.
It’s a crazy world out there. Go watch “La Familia” and get hyped for Week 1.