CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1998 Syracuse

8–⁠4 (6–⁠1 Big East), coached by Paul Pasqualoni, finished No. 25 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Syracuse in 1998, game by game: lost vs. No. 10 Tennessee 33–34; won at No. 13 Michigan 38–28; won vs. Rutgers 70–14; lost at NC State 17–38; won vs. Cincinnati 63–21; won at Boston College 42–25; won vs. Pittsburgh 45–28; lost at West Virginia 28–35; won vs. No. 16 Virginia Tech 28–26; won at Temple 38–7; won vs. No. 19 Miami 66–13; lost vs. No. 7 Florida 10–31+56−21Lost 33–34 vs. No. 10 Tennessee-1No. 10 TennesseeWon 38–28 at No. 13 Michigan+10No. 13 MichiganWon 70–14 vs. Rutgers+56RutgersLost 17–38 at NC State-21NC StateWon 63–21 vs. Cincinnati+42CincinnatiWon 42–25 at Boston College+17Boston CollegeWon 45–28 vs. Pittsburgh+17PittsburghLost 28–35 at West Virginia-7West VirginiaWon 28–26 vs. No. 16 Virginia Tech+2No. 16 Virginia TechWon 38–7 at Temple+31TempleWon 66–13 vs. No. 19 Miami+53No. 19 MiamiLost 10–31 vs. No. 7 Florida-21No. 7 Florida
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vs10TennesseeL 33–⁠3451%
Sep 12at13MichiganW 38–⁠2835%
Sep 19vsRutgersW 70–⁠1491%
Oct 1atNC StateL 17–⁠3859%
Oct 10vsCincinnatiW 63–⁠2186%
Oct 17atBoston CollegeW 42–⁠2568%
Oct 31vsPittsburghW 45–⁠2882%
Nov 7atWest VirginiaL 28–⁠3557%
Nov 14vs16Virginia TechW 28–⁠2654%
Nov 21atTempleW 38–⁠784%
Nov 28vs19MiamiW 66–⁠1364%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvs7FloridaOrange BowlL 10–⁠3138%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Florida 31–⁠10 in the Orange Bowl; No. 25 in the final AP poll; Big East champions.

In program history: The 16th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 17
  2. Wk 2: 19
  3. Wk 3: 13
  4. Wk 4: 12
  5. Wk 5: 11
  6. Wk 6: 24
  7. Wk 7: 23
  8. Wk 8: 21
  9. Wk 9: 17
  10. Wk 10: 15
  11. Wk 12: 24
  12. Wk 13: 21
  13. Wk 14: 18
  14. Wk 15: 18
  15. Final: 25

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 1998.

Big East champions6–⁠1 in the conference

Heisman voteDonovan McNabb, fifth

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
6–⁠1 first in Big East
AP final
No. 25 peak No. 11
Points
478–⁠300
Coach
Paul Pasqualoni
Elo
1660 +31 this season
SP+ rating
19.5 No. 13 of 112; offense No. 4, defense No. 58
SRS
16.8 No. 14 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Kevin Rogers
Defensive coordinator
George DeLeone
Captains
Scott Kiernan, Rob Konrad, Donovan McNabb and Jason Poles

Drafted in 1999

The 1999 draft
Rd 1Donovan McNabb QBPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 2Kevin Johnson WRCleveland Browns
Rd 2Rob Konrad RBMiami Dolphins

All-Big East

4 first team, 5 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1998 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1998 Big East standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Syracuse6–⁠18–⁠425
Miami5–⁠29–⁠320
Virginia Tech5–⁠29–⁠323
West Virginia5–⁠28–⁠4
Boston College3–⁠44–⁠7
Rutgers2–⁠55–⁠6
Temple2–⁠52–⁠9
Pittsburgh0–⁠72–⁠9

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