Syracuse Orange week 2 preview: You can't count out UConn

The Orange get their home opener, but against a team that looks slightly more interesting than first expected.

The Syracuse - UConn home and home series is one of those things that just makes too much sense to not get scheduled every year. UConn is independent and needs games, especially ones that will draw fans in Connecticut and Syracuse has an existing scheduling mess they may just be finally resolving.

The downside of this series? After the dissolution of the Big East, UConn has been on a wayward football path that has impacted their quality on the field. Syracuse has won every meeting since the Orange joined the ACC, while UConn has been averaging just 3.5 wins per season in that same timeframe, bouncing from the American to becoming independent. The series is one Syracuse is supposed to win while providing fairly little recruiting headwinds into Connecticut, a state not known for great production of talent.

All those things add up to creating this Saturday’s interesting matchup: a game the Orange need and are supposed to win, against a motivated UConn that has managed some level of success and consistency under new coach Jim Mora. The Huskies went 9-3 last year against a fairly soft schedule, but did so impressively enough to finish the year with a bowl win over North Carolina¹ and finished 67th in SP+ at the end of the season. So what did UConn do in the offseason to keep this momentum? More than expected.