A nice bow to put an end to a strong first year for Coach Brown
An overall successful first year for the Syracuse Orange under coach Fran Brown sees the program now ranked as one of the top-25 of the 2024 season.
The Orange jumped two spots to move to No. 20 in the final AP poll for 2024, which was released Tuesday. It’s the first time the program has clinched a spot in the last AP poll since 2018 and just the third time Syracuse has done so in the 21st century.
Coach Brown also made a little bit of Syracuse history with the news. He becomes the first rookie Syracuse football head coach to end a season in the AP top-25 since Paul Pasqualoni in 1991. Brown and Pasqualoni are the only two coaches in the Orange’s entire football program history to earn that milestone.
Syracuse was one of four ACC teams who made the final AP top-25, joining SMU (No. 12), Clemson (No. 14) and Miami (No. 18).
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Syracuse concluded 2024 with a 10-3 overall record — the program’s most wins in six seasons — and a 5-3 record against the ACC. Syracuse played four opponents who were ranked heading into those matchups — No. 23 Georgia Tech, No. 25 UNLV, No. 19 Pittsburgh and No. 8 Miami. Two opponents — UNLV and Miami — finished in the final AP poll.
The Orange capped off their 2024 season with three straight wins, including a historic upset over the Hurricanes and a victory in the DIRECTV Holiday Bowl over Washington State.
It’s another milestone for coach Brown, who brought a new DART culture and navigated early expectations in 2024. Concluding the year in the AP top-25 is certainly a great reminder of the progress the team made over the course of the season. Now, all eyes will be on getting ready for 2025 and year two under coach Brown.