Syracuse, N.Y. — Syracuse football capped its 2024 season with a 52-35 victory against Washington State in the Holiday Bowl.
It’s time to turn the page to 2025.
The Orange will open next season with a nationally televised game against Tennessee at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
The showcase game on Labor Day weekend kicks off a dynamic 12-game schedule that features four opponents that competed in this year’s College Football Playoff (all played away from the JMA Wireless Dome), plus home games against former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick and a school that will reportedly pay its new quarterback $8 million over the next two seasons.
It features road trips to Notre Dame, Clemson, Miami (Fla.), SMU and Georgia Tech.
And, as a result of the neutral-site game against the Volunteers, that comes with a financial guarantee, there are just six home games on next year’s schedule.
The ACC typically releases its football schedule, including exact dates and order of opponents, in late January.
Next year’s schedule is part of a seven-year scheduling model that runs through 2030. Syracuse has protected rivalry games against Pittsburgh and Boston College under the arrangement.
Non-conference games
Aug. 30 vs. Tennessee* (ABC or ESPN)
It’ll be the first time Syracuse and Tennessee meet since 2001, and, perhaps appropriately, it may also be SU’s biggest season opener in 24 years, when the Orange faced 10th-ranked Georgia Tech in the Kickoff Classic in the 2001 opener in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The Orange and Vols will play in the home of the Atlanta Falcons, right in the heart of SEC country.
The game was scheduled in July 2021, when Tennessee was coming off a 3-7 season and reeling from the fallout of a pay-for-play scheme under former coach Jeremy Pruitt. Syracuse was coming off a 1-10 season under coach Dino Babers.
Ironically, when the two teams meet in Atlanta, it’s likely to mark the first season of revenue-sharing in college athletics.
Tennessee’s Nico Iamaleava, the original $8 million quarterback, seeks to revive Josh Heupel’s lightning-fast offense with a better supporting cast.
The Volunteers reeled in the nation’s 11th-best recruiting class, according to 247Sports.
That’s good for eighth in the SEC.
*Game played in Atlanta
TBD: at Notre Dame
Notre Dame has to find a new quarterback with Riley Leonard out of eligibility.
After turning to the transfer market each of the past two offseasons, Notre Dame could stick with an in-house candidate, presumably backup Steve Angeli or CJ Carr, the grandson of former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr.
The Irish returns breakaway back Jeremiyah Love and can return its entire starting offensive line to pave the way.
Syracuse last played at Notre Dame at the end of the 2020 season, another CFP year for the Irish.
Sept. 6*: vs. Connecticut
UConn proved it can compete with ACC teams this past season under coach Jim Mora. But the Huskies are every bit akin to a Group of Five outfit in the so-called NIL era.
Syracuse and Connecticut are scheduled to face one another each of the next four seasons, with road games at Rentschler Field set for 2026 and 2027 and a return game in the JMA Dome in 2028.
*Date is subject to change
Sept. 13*: vs. Colgate
Former Cortland coach Curt Fitzpatrick, who led the Red Dragons to their first-ever Division III national title in 2023, was recently named the new coach at Colgate.
The Raiders are coming off a 2-10 season in 2024.
*Date is subject to change
ACC home games
TBD: vs. North Carolina
North Carolina may be the most intriguing program in the country next season after hiring Bill Belichick.
The six-time Super Bowl champion coach with the Patriots brings an NFL mindset to college at a time it shifts to a revenue-sharing model.
Belichick, who turns 73 in April, isn’t expected to be a long-term solution in Carolina. But he has encyclopedic knowledge of the game and the strategy in it, plus a fairly manageable schedule, to bring instant success to Chapel Hill.
Returning quarterback Jacolby Criswell may get first crack at playing the position.
TBD: vs. Duke
Duke made one of the splashiest waves of the offseason with the acquisition of its reported $8 million quarterback transfer.
Former Tulane quarterback Darian Mensah received a deal from Duke believed to be worth an average annual value of $4 million, according to a report by CBS Sports. The financial details of Mensah’s deal are not able to be confirmed, due to the lack of transparency in the industry.
Still, it’s a paradigm-shifting roster move for a place that has long faced a reputation as a basketball school.
Coach Manny Diaz quietly went 9-3 in his first season with Texas-transfer quarterback Maalik Murphy.
That Duke of all places appears to have pushed for an upgrade is a sign of what Syracuse must compete with in the player acquisition space.
TBD: vs. Pittsburgh
Pitt started 7-0 before dropping six straight to close the season.
Pat Narduzzi is under contract through the 2030 season, but the collapse this fall, on the heels of a 3-9 season in 2023, has taken a bit of shine off signs of progress made under first-year offensive coordinator Kade Bell and injured quarterback Eli Holstein.
A new athletic director with a background in the SEC has come to try to jolt the fundraising in the pay-for-play era.
Holstein and All-American linebacker Kyle Louis returning is a good sign the Panthers can still be a thorn in the Orange’s side next season.
TBD: vs. Boston College
Aside from the early season loss to Stanford, SU’s loss at Boston College amounts to the most puzzling defeat of Fran Brown’s first season.
Former Eagles quarterback Thomas Castellanos has transferred to Florida State, and the Eagles will lose running backs Kye Robichaux and Treshaun Ward, plus a chunk of experience and production at scrimmage, where they bullied the Orange in their 37-31 victory on Nov. 9.
ACC road games
TBD: at Clemson
Clemson won its ninth ACC championship under future Hall of Fame coach Dabo Swinney earlier this month, and the Tigers will likely be the favorites to repeat in 2025.
Multi-year starters such as tight end Jake Briningstool, running back Phil Mafah and linebacker Barrett Carter will move on, but Clemson is expected to return most of its roster, including senior quarterback Cade Klubnik.
Syracuse has never won at Clemson in five games since joining the ACC.
TBD: at Miami (Fla.)
Miami reportedly took a run at Washington State-transfer quarterback John Mateer before he signed with Oklahoma.
The Hurricanes lose Heisman finalist Cam Ward to the NFL. Their decision on what to do at quarterback looms large heading into next season.
TBD: at Southern Methodist
SMU capitalized on an advantageous schedule to reach the ACC Championship Game in its first year in a Power-Four league.
The Mustangs skipped Clemson, Miami (Fla.), Syracuse and Georgia Tech —four of the top five teams in the final conference standings — to finish with an 8-0 conference record.
Miami, Louisville, Clemson and Syracuse comprise half the Mustangs’ schedule in 2025, along with non-conference games against Baylor and Texas Christian.
TBD: at Georgia Tech
All indications are quarterback Haynes King will be back on The Flats next season, giving the Yellow Jackets one of the top returning quarterbacks in the ACC.
King nearly single-handedly lifted Georgia Tech past in-state rival Georgia in an eight-overtime marathon at the end of the season.
His top target each of the past two seasons, Eric Singleton Jr., is off to Auburn, which appears to be financially all-in ahead of what portends to be a prove-it year for coach Hugh Freeze.
First appeared on www.syracuse.com