2024 NCAAF Cheat Sheet: Syracuse Orange Stats

Team With Higher Expectations Entering 2024

July 15, 2024 176 4 minutes readNCAAF Picks & Parlays

There’s a new buzz surrounding this year’s Syracuse football team. After appearing in back-to-back bowl games and adding Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord, Orange fans are expecting big things from the team. The arrival of new head coach Fran Brown adds to the optimism.

Brown is known as one of the best recruiters in college football, although it’s easier to get a player to commit to Georgia than Syracuse. With McCord under center, the 2024 Syracuse Orange stats should be more impressive than they were a year ago.

At A Glance

Odds to Win	Opening Odds	Current Odds
Championship	+60000	+60000
Conference	+4500	+4000
Regular Season Win Total	7.5 (o+118, u-162)	7.5 (o+105, u-135)
To Make Playoffs	+3000	+3000

Brown Earns Rave Reviews From Previous Bosses

When Kirby Smart is one of your biggest ers, you must be doing something right. The Georgia head coach had plenty of good things to say about Brown. Brown was the defensive backs coach with the Bulldogs.

He’ll let Mike Johnson and former NY Giants running back coach Jeff Nixon run the offense. He did bring some help from Georgia, with a pair of wide receivers and offensive lineman Joshua Miller coming over with Brown.

The biggest newcomer is McCord, who threw for 24 TDs and six interceptions with the Buckeyes. Those aren’t exactly CJ Stroud or Justin Fields numbers, but they’re not bad. They’re certainly better than the 17 TDs and 15 interceptions Syracuse quarterbacks combined for last season.

The running game is decent but needs the line to open some holes. Syracuse desperately needs the offense to get better. The Orange were 7-2 when gaining at least 300 total yards year and 0-4 when they didn’t. That’s a good indication the 2024 Syracuse Orange stats have to be better on the offensive side of the ball.

The front seven needs a few new players and Brown was active in the transfer portal. The team returns standout linebacker Marlowe Wax and a few others who contributed last season. The defensive backs should be fine and Brown knows all about coaching the secondary.

Championship Odds: No Chance This Year

Perhaps one day Syracuse can talk about competing for a national championship. It’s not going to be this year, however, as the Orange are a good team. They’re not a great team. There’s a reason why the Syracuse college football championship odds are +60000.

Conference Odds: The Slimmest of Chances

The odds of the Orange winning the ACC offer the faintest of hopes, but not much more. Syracuse is pretty much in the middle of the pack as it pertains to the preseason odds. This year’s odds are a shade under last preseason’s +5000.

The biggest thing the Orange have in their favor is the ACC schedule. Somehow, Syracuse managed to avoid Florida State, college football standings than people are expecting.

Regular Season Wins: Good Potential For 8 Wins

The win total on Syracuse is up 1.5 games this year to 7.5, but it’s entirely possible to see more wins than that. The Orange had a win total of 6 last year and pushed, as the seventh win didn’t come until bowl season.

Last year, FSU, Clemson, and UNC were all on the schedule and Syracuse was a combined 0-3 and outscored by an average of 37-8. This year the Orange avoided all three.

Of the 12 games on the Syracuse schedule, there look to be four games Syracuse should definitely win and one where they’re prohibitive underdogs, how the team fares in the remaining games will be what determines their fate against the win total. The Orange will have to win a few games on the road, something it did just once last season.

In fairness, UNC, FSU, NCAAF best bets on season totals, but maybe a small play.

To Make Playoffs: Not This Year

Even with a favorable schedule, Syracuse isn’t going to the expanded college football playoffs. The Orange still have some areas to shore up before they can starting thinking about the playoffs and major bowl games.

Side Bets

McCord is +20000 to win the Heisman Trophy and those odds are pretty accurate. He should put up some solid numbers, but Syracuse also likes to run the ball.

A Heisman is out of the question when you consider the other quarterbacks who are returning. The 2024 Syracuse Orange stats should show gains in the ing game, just not enough for the Heisman Trophy.

The team head-to-head matchup for Syracuse is Wisconsin in regards to which teams post the most wins. The Badgers are -120 and the Orange are even. The over/under on Wisconsin’s season wins is 7.0, so there’s slight value in taking Syracuse in this matchup.

For Point Spreads Sports Magazine.