Syracuse hosts New Hampshire (0-1). The market has Syracuse favored by 34.5.
What’s at stake
Syracuse
- Syracuse hasn’t beaten a ranked opponent since 2024.
New Hampshire
- New Hampshire is still shaking off a 14-point loss.
Face-off
What each fanbase carries into this one.
New Hampshire
The chip · vs the national mediaThe room says New Hampshire made 14 straight FCS playoffs, won the Walter Payton Award twice, and still gets called a cold-weather afterthought — that the Granite State program has earned its place at the FCS top table and national media has been slow to acknowledge it.
What this game touches
The 14-year playoff streak that ended in 2018. New Hampshire made 14 consecutive FCS playoff appearances from 2004 to 2017 — one of the longest streaks in FCS history. The streak ended in 2018. Ricky Santos, now head coach, has restored playoff appearances in 2022 and 2024, but the program has not returned to the sustained dominance of the run that defined it.
Syracuse
The chip · vs the national mediaFans are tired of being the program everyone files under 'historic Northeast football' and forgets — the place pundits treat as a recruiting pit stop, a job Fran Brown is supposed to use as a launchpad rather than a destination. They want him to prove the doubters and the bigger jobs wrong.
What this game touches
The Achilles that stole the breakout. After Fran Brown's electric 10-3 debut in 2024, QB Steve Angeli was leading the nation in passing through four games in 2025 — and tore his Achilles in the second half of an upset of Clemson; Syracuse, just 3-1 to that point, lost its last eight to finish 3-9, last in the ACC.
Best players
Syracuse
- Gary Bryant III (LB) · 2025: 53 tackles
- Antoine Deslauriers (LB) · 2025: 48 tackles
- Braheem Long Jr. (DB) · 2025: 42 tackles
The line, and the room
The model and the market don’t fully agree on Syracuse’s chances here.
Home −34.5 · O/U 55.5
Conditions
Syracuse is 59% at home, 34% on the road since 2018 (30-21 home, 14-27 away).