Syracuse, N.Y. -- Basketball season can wait.
It's a different time around Syracuse football under third-year coach Dino Babers. Instead of wondering if a beat-up team can avoid fading late in the season, Syracuse heads into the final month of the regular season strong and in position for greater moments still to come.
Syracuse coach Dino Babers Monday morning press conference
The 22nd-ranked Orange snapped the second-longest Associated Press Top 25 poll drought among major-conference teams this week, cracking the poll for the first time since the end of the 2001 season.
And it is bowl eligible for the first time since 2013 following Saturday night's 51-41 victory against North Carolina State, assuring football season will resume through the holiday season.