A 65th team became bowl eligible Thursday when Miami (Ohio) nudged Ball State, 21-20. Had Ball State won, both teams would have been 5-7. Instead, the Redhawks took one spot away, leaving 15 for the rest of the FBS teams fighting to get in.

Syracuse needs fewer than 15 teams to become eligible and for its Academic Progress Rate, or APR, to be high enough to fill one of the remaining spots. The Orange also needs to beat Pittsburgh, which might be the hardest part of its bowl calculus.

You’ll notice a few teams aren’t on this list, including Maryland, Indiana, Boston College, Northwestern, North Texas and Vanderbilt. Each team has an APR higher than Syracuse and is 5-6. It’s likely that even if each lost, they’d all get into a bowl game ahead of SU.

Check out who you should root for the rest of the week if you want Syracuse to make a bowl game.

All games are listed chronologically rather than by importance.

FRIDAY

North Carolina State (5-6) vs. North Carolina (8-3)
Noon
Why you want North Carolina to win: Syracuse holds the APR tiebreaker over N.C. State if the Wolfpack beats UNC. If N.C. State beats UNC, the former would be bowl eligible, taking a spot away from prospective 5-7 teams.

TCU (5-5) vs. Texas (5-6)
3:30 p.m.
Why you want TCU to win: The Horned Frogs have two shots to get to 6-6 (the next comes against Kansas State), so it’s likely they get there. Texas, however, has just one chance to extend Charlie Strong’s tenure as head coach. TCU and Texas could become bowl eligible with a Texas win, so root for TCU to be the only bowl-eligible team of the two.

Louisiana Tech (8-3) vs. Southern Mississippi (5-6)
4:00 p.m.
Why you want Louisiana Tech to win: Again, any way a team can be kept from becoming bowl eligible benefits Syracuse. In this case, Louisiana Tech can do just that to Southern Mississippi. SU holds the APR score tiebreaker over the Golden Eagles.

Arizona State (5-6) vs. Arizona (2-9)
9:30 p.m.
Why you want Arizona to win: These rivals square off and it’s the far less likely rival that SU would benefit most from winning. The Wildcats would prevent the Sun Devils from becoming bowl eligible and relegate ASU to the ranks of the 5-7 teams groveling for a bowl berth. SU holds the APR tiebreaker over Arizona State.

SATURDAY

Duke (4-7) vs. Miami (7-4)
3:30 p.m.
Why you want Miami to win: This game is key for SU if it gets to five wins. This is a chance for Miami to end Duke’s season. The Blue Devils hold the tiebreaker over SU and would get in ahead of the Orange at 5-7.

Ole Miss (5-6) vs. Mississippi State (4-7)
3:30 p.m.
Why you want Mississippi State to win: Mississippi State can ruin Ole Miss’ season along with its own. Misery loves company after all. SU would have the tiebreaker over both if MSU wins.

USC (8-3) vs. Notre Dame (4-7)
3:30 p.m.
Why you want USC to win: SU doesn’t hold the APR tiebreaker over Notre Dame, so the Fighting Irish, now winless in 2012 and 2013 because of academic misconduct, would get into a bowl game at 5-7 ahead of the Orange.

Navy (8-2) vs. SMU (5-6)
3:30 p.m.
Why you want Navy to win: Navy can prevent SMU from becoming bowl eligible and SU holds the 5-7 tiebreaker over the Mustangs.

Idaho (6-4) vs. South Alabama (5-5)
3:30 p.m.
Why you want Idaho to win: Idaho can prevent USA from becoming bowl eligible at least one more week and puts the latter on the ropes, hoping for a win in the final week of the season. SU holds the tiebreaker over South Alabama as well.

Charlotte (4-7) vs. Texas San Antonio (5-6)
7:00 p.m.
Why you want Charlotte to win: Remember Robert Washington? He’s hard to forget. If you want to root for him even though he didn’t come to Syracuse, here’s your chance. Charlotte beating UTSA would prevent the latter from becoming bowl eligible, and SU holds the tiebreaker.

Massachusetts (2-9) vs. Hawaii (5-7)
11:59 p.m.
Why you want Massachusetts to win: Here’s the deal: A 6-7 team gets in ahead of 5-7 teams but does not become bowl eligible at its sixth win. That still means a win gets Hawaii in over Syracuse. But a loss puts Hawaii out of contention, which would greatly benefit Syracuse.  

Published on November 25, 2016 at 11:12 am

Contact Chris: cjlibona@syr.edu | @ChrisLibonati