The Syracuse Orange came close, but just missed cracking the Top 25 in both the AP and USA Today college football polls this week.
In polls released this afternoon, Syracuse (6-2 overall, 3-1 in the Big East Conference) placed just outside the Top 25. In the AP poll the Orange received 22 points, placing them 27th in the country. In the USA Today poll, Syracuse was 28th with 14 points.
Syracuse defeated Cincinnati Saturday, 31-7, for its second consecutive impressive Big East Conference victory. The previous week, Syracuse traveled to Morgantown and defeated the then 20th-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers, 19-14.
At 6-2, Syracuse still needs one victory to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2004. The Orange have victories over a pair of FCS schools, Maine and Colgate, and only one of those can count toward bowl eligibility. Thus, Syracuse needs one victory in its last four games for bowl eligibility.