CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1996 Syracuse

9–⁠3 (6–⁠1 Big East), coached by Paul Pasqualoni, finished No. 21 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Syracuse in 1996, game by game: lost vs. No. 24 North Carolina 10–27; lost at Minnesota 33–35; won vs. No. 18 Virginia Tech 52–21; won vs. Rutgers 42–0; won vs. Pittsburgh 55–7; won at Boston College 45–17; won at No. 18 West Virginia 30–7; won at Tulane 31–7; won vs. No. 22 Army 42–17; won at Temple 36–15; lost vs. No. 23 Miami 31–38; won vs. Houston 30–17+48−17Lost 10–27 vs. No. 24 North Carolina-17No. 24 North CarolinaLost 33–35 at Minnesota-2MinnesotaWon 52–21 vs. No. 18 Virginia Tech+31No. 18 Virginia TechWon 42–0 vs. Rutgers+42RutgersWon 55–7 vs. Pittsburgh+48PittsburghWon 45–17 at Boston College+28Boston CollegeWon 30–7 at No. 18 West Virginia+23No. 18 West VirginiaWon 31–7 at Tulane+24TulaneWon 42–17 vs. No. 22 Army+25No. 22 ArmyWon 36–15 at Temple+21TempleLost 31–38 vs. No. 23 Miami-7No. 23 MiamiWon 30–17 vs. Houston+13Houston
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 7vs24North CarolinaL 10–⁠2761%
Sep 21atMinnesotaL 33–⁠3558%
Sep 28vs18Virginia TechW 52–⁠2140%
Oct 5vsRutgersW 42–⁠081%
Oct 12vsPittsburghW 55–⁠786%
Oct 26atBoston CollegeW 45–⁠1759%
Nov 2at18West VirginiaW 30–⁠747%
Nov 9atTulaneW 31–⁠783%
Nov 16vs22ArmyW 42–⁠1768%
Nov 23atTempleW 36–⁠1589%
Nov 30vs23MiamiL 31–⁠3872%
Dec 27Bowls & playoffvsHoustonLiberty BowlW 30–⁠1776%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Houston 30–⁠17 in the Liberty Bowl; No. 21 in the final AP poll; Big East champions.

In program history: The 8th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 10
  2. Wk 2: 10
  3. Wk 3: 9
  4. Wk 4: 23
  5. Wk 5: 23
  6. Wk 12: 24
  7. Wk 13: 19
  8. Wk 14: 16
  9. Wk 15: 16
  10. Wk 16: 22
  11. Wk 17: 23
  12. Final: 21

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1996.

Big East champions6–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Miami and Virginia Tech

Record
9–⁠3
Conference
6–⁠1 shared first in Big East
AP final
No. 21 peak No. 9
Points
437–⁠208
Coach
Paul Pasqualoni
Elo
1699 +92 this season
SP+ rating
23.0 No. 10 of 111; offense No. 11, defense No. 27
SRS
20.1 No. 8 of 111 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
George DeLeone
Defensive coordinator
Norm Gerber
Captains
Kevin Abrams, Harvey Pennypacker and Malcolm Thomas

Drafted in 1997

The 1997 draft
Rd 2Kevin Abrams DBDetroit Lions
Rd 4Antonio Anderson DTDallas Cowboys

All-Big East

6 first team, 6 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1996 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1996 Big East standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Virginia Tech6–⁠110–⁠213
Syracuse6–⁠19–⁠321
Miami6–⁠19–⁠314
West Virginia4–⁠38–⁠4
Pittsburgh3–⁠44–⁠7
Boston College2–⁠55–⁠7
Rutgers1–⁠62–⁠9
Temple0–⁠71–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.