Potential Bowl Options for Syracuse Football

If the Orange wins one of its last two games, it will be bowl eligible.

Sydney Supple | Nov 18, 2023

Potential Bowl Options for Syracuse Football /

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Syracuse Orange

Tis’ the best time of year for football bowl games so let's take a look back on Syracuse’s previous 27 bowl appearances. Since 1953 Syracuse has competed in three Orange Bowls, three Pinstripe Bowls, two Cotton Bowls, two Liberty Bowls, two Sugar Bowls, two Gator Bowls, two Fiesta Bowls, two Hall of Fame Bowls, a Texas Bowl, an Aloha Bowl, a Peach Bowl, an Insight Bowl, an Independence Bowl, a Camping World Bowl, a Champs Sports Bowl and a Music City Bowl.

Following the win over Pitt, SU only moved up three spots in the ESPN’s Football Power Index to a No.49 nationwide. Currently, the FPI gives the Cuse an 82.6 percent chance to get to a half-dozen victories in 2023 and advance to a bowl game for the second consecutive stanza under head coach Dino Babers.

If a win over Georgia Tech or Wake Forest were to occur here is what the potential bowl placing could look like.

Military Bowl Presented by Peraton

Date: December 27th

Time: 2 p.m. ET on ESPN

Location: Annapolis, Maryland

Matchup: Atlantic Coast Conference and the American Athletic Conference

2022 Result: Duke defeated UCF 30 to 13.

Notes: This would be Syracuse’s first time ever playing in the Military Bowl and hasn’t played in the DMV since the 2019 Maryland game.

Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl

Date: December 22nd

Time: 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN

Location: Tampa, Florida

2022 Result: Wake Forest Demon Deacons (7-5) defeated Mizzou Tigers (6-6)

Notes: Another bowl Syracuse has never played in is the Gasparilla that started in 2008 in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Bowl was renamed from St. Petersburg Bowl in 2017 as a nod to the legend of Jose Gaspar, a mythical pirate.

Predictions: Jerry Palm of CBS Sports has Syracuse playing Marshall out of the Sun Belt conference. The Thundering Herd, present, a 5-5 overall and 2-4 in league affairs. Oliver Hodgkinson, lead analyst at the College Football Network, has Syracuse playing South Carolina who are 4-6 overall and 2-5 in SEC play. The Gamecocks would be an interesting story line because Sellers was a Syracuse star committed from South Florence HS in Florence, S.C. where he led his program to a state championship in his senior year before recommitting to the Gamecocks.

Birmingham Bowl

Date: December 23rd

Time: 12:00 p.m. EST on ABC

Location: Birmingham, Alabama

2022 Result: ECU beat Coastal Carolina 53 to 29

Notes: A Southern Hospitality bowl that hosts SEC, ACC or The American conference teams. The last ACC team to play in this bowl was in 2018 Wake Forest.

Independence Bowl

Date: December 16th

Time: 9:15 p.m. ET on the ESPN App

Location: Shreveport, Louisiana

Matchup: Normally a Pac-12 vs. Big 12 conference but Syracuse has played in it before.

Notes: This is a bowl that Syracuse played in 1979 where they beat McNeese State 31 to 7. A 21-point fourth quarter allowed the Orange to beat what was the previously unbeaten McNeese State at the fourth ever Independence Bowl. The Independence Bowl is the 11th oldest bowl game again the last ACC School who played in it was 2018 was Duke. Schlabach from ESPN has a prediction of Texas Tech vs. Syracuse for this post season.

Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl

Date: December 18th

Time: 2:15 p.m. ET on ESPN

Location: Yankee Stadium (Bronx, NY)

Matchup: ACC vs Big Ten

2022 Result: Minnesota beat Syracuse 28-20.

Wasabi Fenway Bowl

Date: December 28th

Time: 11:00 a.m. ET on ESPN

Location: Fenway Park (Boston, MA)

Matchup: ACC vs AAC

2022 Result: Louisville beat Cincinnati 24-7.