Syracuse Orange football opens as three-point favorites against USF Bulls in Boca Raton Bowl

The Syracuse Orange are going bowling in Florida! SU will travel to Boca Raton to face USF in a battle of programs that have both reached crucial points in their rebuilding efforts.

Whether you’ll be in attendance at the cozy 29k-seat FAU Stadium or watching at home, it’s looking like an ideal chance to see the Orange earn a winning record in back-to-back seasons. According to DraftKings Sportsbook, ‘Cuse opens up as three-point favorites over the Bulls. The Over/Under is set at 59 points.

It will be interesting to see how both teams prepare for the game, being that USF is the most-perfectly balanced team in the country. That’s no exaggeration: South Florida has both generated and allowed 5,464 total yards of offense this season (an average of 445.3 yards per game). When’s the last time you’ve seen that happen through 12 games?

Meanwhile, the Orange will still be operating under interim head coach Nunzio Campanile while Fran Brown and his staff observe what he’ll be working with in 2024 and beyond. The biggest question is whether or not seniors Garrett Shrader and Caleb Okechukwu, as well as other draft-eligible guys like Justin Barron and Marlowe Wax, will choose to play. We do know that 6th-year Offensive Guard Chris Bleich will be in uniform thanks to a social media post.

The SU defense is also shorthanded at the moment, with six players currently in the transfer portal.

What are your predictions for the Boca Raton Bowl?