A new Syracuse Orange men’s basketball season is (unofficially) underway. The Orange recently took the court for their first of two exhibition games, and the team’s 2025-26 campaign will soon formally start less than a week from now.
With that in mind, there’s no better time to check in on how the college basketball world outside of the 315 is feeling about this year’s Orange. Here are the last batch of preseason rankings before Syracuse begins to play games that will start to count:
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CBS Sports
Syracuse cracked the top-80 on CBS Sports’ “Top 100 And 1 teams” rankings, released by Matt Norlander this past week. The Orange sit at No. 79 in the rankings, trailing Grand Canyon, VCU and Penn State, and ahead of South Carolina, Liberty and Stanford.
Norlander has ‘Cuse ranked 13th among the ACC teams, behind a sizable group that includes Miami (70), Pittsburgh (67), Virginia Tech (66), Wake Forest (63) and Notre Dame (55).
Here’s what Norlander had to say about the Orange:
“Red Autry had a lost season in Year 2, going 14-19 and finishing well outside the top 100. This year must go better, otherwise a program that saw one coaching change in five decades will find itself with three coaches in a four-year span. The Orange bring back JJ Starling and Donnie Freeman — two quality ACC starters. Can they be winning players? Welcome in Naithan George (12.3), who had some good moments in-league at Georgia Tech. And there is a feel-good story you’ll hear plenty about: Kiyan Anthony, son of Carmelo, will play for SU. Anthony and Sadiq White are the future of this program, provided they can win enough to get Autry to Year 4.”
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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated ranked Syracuse No. 72 in its 365-team rankings list, which was released on Monday. That’s good for 11th in the ACC, just behind Wake Forest (62), Virginia Tech (56) and Clemson (52) among the ACC programs.
Similar to CBS Sports, Kevin Sweeney of SI noted how the roster is improved compared to 2024-25, but also pointed out the obvious pressure coach Autry has to deliver this year.
ESPN
On Monday, ESPN published a piece titled “Ranking 80 men’s NCAA basketball teams by March Madness potential.” ESPN placed the Orange in Tier 8, the “(potential) comeback kids.” The rest of the tier includes Georgetown, Virginia Tech, Nebraska and LSU.
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ESPN’s Jeff Borzello gave high praise to the roster:
“When it comes to pure talent, Syracuse is in great shape. The Orange brought back preseason All-ACC selection J.J. Starling and former top-10 recruit Donnie Freeman, and they added Georgia Tech transfer Naithan George — one of the most coveted point guards in the portal — and a pair of top-35 recruits, including Kiyan Anthony, Carmelo’s son.”
Bart Torvik
Bart Torvik remains quite high on Syracuse, who started the preseason ranked No. 50 in its preseason rankings, which were released in April. That included placing 29th in adjusted offensive efficiency and 101st in adjusted defensive efficiency. The Orange now sit at No. 61 according to the metric in its most recent update, with the offense ranked 30th and the defense 120th.
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Syracuse’s overall ranking is good for ninth in the ACC amid a large group that includes Clemson (51), SMU (52), Miami (55), Notre Dame (64), Wake Forest (67), Virginia Tech (73) and Pittsburgh (75).
KenPom
Syracuse currently ranks No. 68, according to the latest numbers from KenPom. That includes being 49th in adjusted offensive efficiency and 100th in adjusted defensive efficiency. The Orange’s overall KenPom ranking is 10th-best in the ACC.
ACC Preseason Poll
The Orange were recently picked to finish ninth in the conference’s preseason poll by a select ACC media panel, narrowly behind Miami and Clemson, and just ahead of Notre Dame.
Jon Rothstein (ACC)
During his offseason breakdown series, Jon Rothstein ranked the Orange ninth among teams in the ACC and was previously pretty high on the team during the preseason. That said, Rothstein did not name the Orange in his latest “bracket breakdown” story. Ditto for ESPN’s latest bracketology update, which was released on Tuesday and did not mention Syracuse.
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Hoops HQ (ACC)
Similar story with Tristan Freeman of Hoops HQ, who also placed the Orange ninth in the conference in his early ACC rankings:
“There’s a lot to like about the Orange as they bring back leading scorer Starling and pair him with George, who led the ACC in assists last year. Freeman could be one of the top forwards in the conference, with two top-tier freshmen to add depth. The biggest question isn’t the roster but rather whether head coach Red Autry is the man to lead them to the postseason.”
The Field of 68 (ACC)
The Field of 68 crew has Syracuse at eighth in the ACC in its current power rankings, which were released Monday.
CBS Sports (ACC)
The crew at CBS Sports overall had the Orange at ninth, but the panel who made their picks were all over the place with their selections. Of the six, Kyle Boone, David Cobb and Cameron Salerno all ranked Syracuse eighth. Isaac Trotter had them at ninth, Gary Parrish at 10th and Norlander at 14th.
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Salerno shared his thoughts about the Orange heading into the new season:
“Outside of (Hubert) Davis, the person under the most pressure in the ACC to deliver results may be Syracuse coach Adrian Autry. The longtime assistant under former Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim has posted a 34-31 record during his first two seasons with the program, including a 7-13 record in ACC play last season. However, there’s hope that the Orange could be a dark-horse contender to reach the NCAA Tournament. Syracuse returns star guard J.J. Starling and former blue-chip recruit Donnie Freeman. Also, the program will welcome a pair of top-35-ranked recruits from the 2025 recruiting cycle. One of those players is Kiyan Anthony, the son of program legend Carmelo Anthony.”
USA Today Network (ACC)
Matthew Glenesk of USA Today picked Syracuse for 10th in the conference, trailing Clemson, Notre Dame and SMU.
