Introducing the ACC: Syracuse Orange

Syracuse produced the best running back ever -- Jim Brown -- who might also be the best football player ever

Cleveland Browns fullback Jim Brown / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

After more than a century as a member of the Pac-12 Conference, Cal has moved into the Atlantic Coast Conference. To introduce Cal fans to the Bears’ new conference rivals, we will profile each of the other ACC schools.  Today we introduce you to Syracuse:

SYRACUSE

NICKNAME: The Orange

MASCOT: Otto the Orange

LOCATION: Syracuse, New York (population 145,171)

MILES FROM BERKELEY: 2,426 miles

MAJOR AIRPORT: Syracuse Hancock International Airport

YEAR FOUNDED: 1870

ENROLLMENT: 15,421 undergraduates

TUITION: $63,710

CAMPUS LANDMARK:  Sol LeWitt’s “Six Curved Walls” 

MOST POPULAR SPORTS BARS/RESTAURANTS: The Beginning II, Chadwick’s Sports Bar and Grill, The Blarney Stone, Change of Pace Spors Bar

FAMOUS NON-ATHLETE ALUMNI: President Joe Biden (Syracuse law school ’68), TV and film writer and director Aaron Sorkin ’83, sportscaster Mike Tirico ’88, author Joyce Carol Oates ’60, actor-comedian Jerry Stiller ’60, television personality Dick Clark ’51. (Bob Costas attended Syracuse but did not graduate.)

ATHLETIC WEBSITE: cuse.com

Jim Brown statue at Syracuse / Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

FOOTBALL  

COACH: Fran Brown (1st season as a head coach, Georgia defensive backs coach the past two seasons)

STADIUM: JMA Wireless Dome, originally named the Carrier Dome (56,250 capacity)

CAL ON THE SCHEDULE: Saturday, November 16, 2024 in Berkeley

2023 RECORD: 7-6, 2-6/tied for 11th in ACC

BEST PLAYER ON 2024 TEAM: Senior linebacker Marlowe Wax (second-team All-ACC in 2023, preseason first-team All-ACC in 2024; 110 tackles last season, third in the ACC)

MOST RECENT BOWL APPEARANCE: 2023 (Lost to South Florida 45-0 in Boca Raton Bowl)

BOWL HISTORY: 28 appearances (16-11-1)

MOST RECENT CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP: 2012 Big East Conference (four-team tie for first place with 5-2 conference records)

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1 (1959)

BEST ALL-TIME NFL PLAYER: Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown (3-time AP NFL MVP, finished in top 3 in MVP voting in 7 of his 9 NFL season, 8-time first-team All-Pro in 9 NFL seasons, led the NFL in rushing in 8 of his 9 seasons; in 2002, Sporting News named Brown the greatest professional football player ever)

ALSO: Marvin Harrison, Larry Csonka, John Mackey, Jim Ringo, Dwight Freeney, Floyd Little

BEST ALL-TIME COACH: Ben Schwartzwalder (151-91-3 in 25 seasons; his teams finished ranked in the top 10 three times, and he won the 1959 national championship)

ALL-TIME RECORD VS. CAL (most recent meeting): 1-1 (Cal beat Syracuse 43-0 in 1968)

Dave Bing / Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

MEN’S BASKETBALL 

COACH: Adrian Autry (20-12 in 1 season)

ARENA: The JMA Wireles Dome, originally named the Carrier Dome (capacity 31,000 for basketball)

2023-24 RECORD: 20-12, 11-9 in ACC, tied for 5th place

BEST PLAYER NEXT SEASON: Senior forward Jyare Davis (second-team all-Coastal Athletic Association selection last season at Delaware, averaging 17.1 points and 7.3 rebounds in 2023-24)

MOST RECENT NCAA TOURNAMENT APPEARANCE: 2021 (lost to Houston 62-46 in Sweet 16)

MOST RECENT CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP: 2012 Big East champion (win total adjusted by NCAA sanctions, but Syracuse still listed as Big East champion)

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY (NCAA TOURNAMENT): 41 appearances (70-41) NCAA champion 2003; NCAA runnerup 1996, 1987; Final Four 2016, 2013, 1975

BEST ALL-TIME PLAYER: Dave Bing (7-time NBA all-star, 2-time first-team All-NBA, 3-time top-6 in MVP voting during 12-year NBA career 1966-1978)

ALSO: Carmelo Anthony

BEST ALL-TIME COACH: Jim Boeheim (1,116-441 in 47 seasons, totals later adjusted after NCAA sanctions; 2010 national coach of the year; 2003 national champion; 6 Final Fours; 37 NCAA tournament appearances)

ALL-TIME RECORD VS.CAL (most recent meeting): 3-1 (Cal won 73-59 on November 20, 2014, at Madison Square Garden in New York)

Syracuse Orange guard Alexis Peterson / Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL 

COACH: Felisha Legette-Jack (44-21 in 2 seasons)

ARENA: The JMA Wireles Dome, originally named the Carrier Dome (capacity 31,000 for basketball)

2023-24 RECORD: 24-8, 13-5/tied 2nd in ACC

BEST PLAYER in 2024-25: Senior guard Georgia Woolley (averaged 13.8 points, 4.8 rebounds last season)

MOST RECENT NCAA TOURNAMENT APPEARANCE: 2024 (lost to Connecticut 72-64 in second round)

MOST RECENT CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP: 1988 Big East regular-season champ

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY: 13 NCAA tournament appearances (11-13); national runnerup 2016, lost to Connecticut 81-52

BEST ALL-TIME PLAYER: Alexis Peterson (2017 ACC player of the year, 2017 second-team All-American, averaged school-record 23.2 points in 2017)

BEST ALL-TIME COACH: Quentin Hillsman (319-169 in 15 seasons; 9 NCAA tournament appearances, 2016 NCAA tournament runnerup; resigned in 2021 amid allegations of improper behavior, including bullying and threatening players)

ALL-TIME RECORD VS. CAL (most recent meeting): 0-1 (Cal won 57-53 in 2003-04 season)

MISCELLANEOUS

VARSITY SPORTS (18): Football, men's and women's basketball, softball, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s lacrosse, men's and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s track and field, men’s and women’s rowing, women’s tennis, women’s field hockey, women’s volleyball, women’s ice hockey

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS (33): Football (1959); basketball (1918, 1926, 2003); men’s lacrosse (1920 disputed, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1983, 1988, 1989, 1993, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009); men’s cross country (1919, 1922, 1923, 1925, 1951, 2015); men’s soccer (2022); women’s field hockey (2015); men’s rowing (1904, 1908, 1913, 1916, 1920, 1978); boxing (1936 unofficial)

BEST ALL-TIME NON-FOOTBALL/BASKETBALL ATHLETE: Wrestler Gene Mills ’81 (2-time NCAA champion; gold medal at 1980 World Super Championship and most outstanding wrestler; gold-medal favorite in the 1980 Olympics and named the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Athlete of the Year in 1980, but he could not compete in the Olympics because of the U.S. boycott of the 1980 Games)

MOST FAMOUS OLYMPIAN: Track and field athlete Myer Pinstein (4 Olympic gold medals -- triple jump in 1900 Olympics, triple jump and long jump in 1904 Olympics, long jump in 1906 Intercalated Games, considered the Olympics at the time; 1 silver medal – long jump in 1900 Olympics, when Syracuse University refused to let him compete in the finals because it was on a Sunday, even though Pinstein was Jewish)

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