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Syracuse football was ranked No. 20 in the final AP Top-25 Poll of the 2024 college football season, released on Tuesday. It clinched the Orange’s best national ranking to finish a season since 2018, the last time SU won 10 games.

That 10th victory, Syracuse’s third double-digit win season of the 21st century, came on Dec. 27, 2024, in the Holiday Bowl against Washington State. Quarterback Kyle McCord and the Orange throttled the Cougars’ defense in San Diego, winning 52-35 — the most points for any team in a bowl game this campaign.

McCord tossed 453 passing yards and a career-high five touchdowns to lead SU in his final start with the program. His performance in 2024 — after transferring from Ohio State and establishing himself as an NFL Draft prospect — was emblematic of Syracuse’s success in its first year under head coach Fran Brown. He turned SU from a program stuck in mediocrity to one that enhances the talent of its players and receives intense buy-in from them.

Brown is the second-ever first-year head coach at SU to finish his debut season in the top 25. Paul Pasqualoni closed the 1991 season at No. 11 in the country in the best first year for a Syracuse head coach.

The Orange finished with the fourth-best AP Poll ranking among Atlantic Coast Conference schools, coming in behind SMU (No. 12, Clemson (No. 14) and Miami (No. 18). Before 2018, Syracuse hadn’t closed a season ranked in the AP Poll since 2001.