2013 Record: 7-6

2014 Las Vegas Season Win Total: 6.0*

2014 Season Win Total Picks NCAA Football: 'Over'

Once a premier football program in the Northeast, Syracuse has been fighting and clawing its way back to relevance over the past decade. They're not there yet. But after three of four winning seasons the Orange have at least gotten themselves back to respectability. The 2014 season is all about the Orange avoiding a back slide.

Syracuse's first season in the ACC was a moderate success, as they rode an easy schedule to a trip into the Texas Bowl. But the Orange lost to Clemson, Georgia Tech and Florida State by the combined score of 164-17. That shows that they have a long way to go.

Syracuse only has one true road game, at Central Michigan, in its first six games. They can pick up wins over weak sisters like Villanova and Maryland. But a three-game stretch versus Notre Dame (at Giants Stadium), Louisville and Florida State could define the season for the Orange.

Syracuse has a very experienced roster and 15 starters back from last year's squad. They're not ready to compete with the top tier ACC squads. But I think this year's unit is capable of springing an upset or two along the way. As long as they can avoid dumping the four home games they will be favored in then I can see Syracuse scraping its way to seven regular season wins. Play this team 'over'.

2014 Syracuse Orange Schedule

DATE OPPONENT TIME (ET) Location Result

Fri, Aug 29th, 2014 Villanova 07:30 PM Carrier Dome

Sat, Sep 13th, 2014 at Central Mich 12:00 PM Kelly/Shorts Stadium

Sat, Sep 20th, 2014 Maryland TBA Carrier Dome

Sat, Sep 27th, 2014 Notre Dame TBA MetLife Stadium - East Rutherford

Fri, Oct 3rd, 2014 Louisville 07:00 PM Carrier Dome

Sat, Oct 11th, 2014 Florida State TBA Carrier Dome

Sat, Oct 18th, 2014 at Wake Forest TBA BB&T Field

Sat, Oct 25th, 2014 at Clemson TBA Clemson Memorial Stadium

Sat, Nov 1st, 2014 NC State TBA Carrier Dome

Sat, Nov 8th, 2014 Duke TBA Carrier Dome

Sat, Nov 22nd, 2014 at Pittsburgh TBA Heinz Field

Sat, Nov 29th, 2014 at Boston College TBA Alumni Stadium

All Times EST

*Season Win Total Odds from Raphael Esparza. Esparza was a Las Vegas sportsbook manager for 13 years at some of the largest books on The Strip. He is a proven oddsmaker and this is his projected total.

Robert Ferringo was the top football handicapper in the country last year, earning nearly $8,000 in total football profit in 2013-14 and posting one of the best seasons in America. He hit 62.1 percent for the entire NFL season (95-58) and was amazing down the stretch, closing with 11 of 14 winning NFL weeks and 12 of 15 overall winning football weeks. Robert has posted 3 of 4 winning football seasons, 6 of 7 winning NFL seasons, 30 of 44 winning football months, and 6 of 7 winning NFL preseasons. Also, Robert's proprietary KING College Football Betting System posted another winning season (now 2-for-2) and is 83-58 over the last two years (58.9 percent).

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