Bowl games are often used as a measuring stick to determine a program’s success. But whether that’s an accurate barometer or not will vary from school to school.
In the Syracuse Orange’s case, the football program hadn’t played in the postseason since 2013; a win over Minnesota in the Texas Bowl. This year, the Orange (10-3) snapped their five-year bowl drought and clinched their best season since the 2001 campaign in which they finished the regular season 10-3 and ranked No. 14 in the AP Top 25.
Quarterback Will Grier may not have played for Camping World Bowl opponent West Virginia, but that didn’t affect Syracuse’s motivation whatsoever.