Syracuse football bowl watch: Can we fill a cereal bowl of Oranges?

The Syracuse Orange football team is 1-0. We don’t need to go into how, but what we do need to note, is that the Liberty Flames are now the first of what we hope will be 6 Cereal Bowls (part of this balance breakfast) that will lead us to the promised postseason land. Many prognosticators think the Orange will exceed this modest goal. We have been scarred by the ghosts of GERG past to know better.

Andy Pregler

Orange Bowl (December 30, Miami, Fla.)

The Athletic: vs. Ohio State Buckeyes

ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura: vs. LSU Tigers

Sporting News: vs. LSU

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach: vs. Penn State Nittany Lions

Fansided: vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

We’ve still got plenty of analysts undeterred by Tommy DeVito’s less-than-stellar 2019 opener, focusing more on the defense. In reality, little from Week 1 would have changed your mind about ‘Cuse’s chances for a New Year’s Six Bowl if you already had them penciled in; most of their opponents lost or looked vulnerable, and the Orange showed a defensive fortitude most ACC schools don’t have.

Camping World Bowl (December 28, Orlando, Fla.)

Stadium: vs. Oklahoma State Cowboys

Belk Bowl (December 31, Charlotte, N.C.)

Sports Illustrated: vs. South Carolina Gamecocks

CBS Sports; vs. Army Black Knights

247 Sports: vs. Kentucky Wildcats

The sweet spot of ‘Cuse bowl projections see a few more start moving towards the Belk Bowl. Traditionally the realm of a Virginia/North Carolina school, the Orange getting a chance to matchup up with a like-tiered SEC school would be incredibly interesting. It’s still too early to make any assumptions, but meeting Army seems unlikely and less than ideal, as the Orange and Army will start to see more of each other in the near future.

Independence Bowl (December 26, Shreveport, La.)

College Football News: vs. Tulane Green Wave

Idk what they’re going for here, other than to make Dan and John incredibly happy.

Sun Bowl (December 31, El Paso, Tex.)

USA Today: vs. USC Trojans

No change from last week, and it makes the quest more reasonable, I guess.

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So here we are, plenty of optimism nationally for the Orange, less than ideal opener be damned. This week’s contest versus Maryland offers the first real threat to shake up this list in the young 2019 season, so check back next week to see if we can add a turtle shelled bowl to our quest.