No. 21 Syracuse and Washington State will finish their 2024 seasons in beautiful San Diego, California, home of the Holiday Bowl. It's a solid matchup of two teams who exceeded expectations this season.
There were plenty of questions surrounding Syracuse in Fran Brown's first season, and the Orange performed as well as anybody could reasonably expect. They finished their regular season with a 42-38 upset win over Miami that knocked the Hurricanes out of ACC contention, as well as the College Football Playoff.
Washington State entered the season in one of the most awkward positions possible as one of only two teams remaining in the Pac-12. The Cougars began the season with wins over Power Four opponents Texas Tech and rival Washington, but did lose to Oregon State to miss out on a Pac-12 title.
This will be Washington State's fifth appearance in the Holiday Bowl, tying the Cougars with Texas for second most all time behind BYU's 11. Syracuse is making its first appearance. It's only the second time these programs have met. Syracuse won the previous meeting 52-25 in 1979.
Syracuse vs. Washington State: Need to know
Kyle McCord had an impressive season for Syracuse: You'll have to forgive Kyle McCord if he took a little joy in Ohio State's failures at the end of the regular season. McCord was a bit of a scapegoat for the Buckeyes last year when they once again failed to beat Michigan and win the Big Ten. It resulted in McCord transferring to Syracuse, where he threw for 4,326 yards and 29 touchdowns. As for the Buckeyes, they lost to Michigan and failed to win the Big Ten again. So maybe it wasn't McCord's fault?
Washington State is missing some key pieces: The Cougars lost three straight to finish the regular season, ruining what had been great start to the year, and things haven't gotten better since. Coach Jake Dickert took the Wake Forest job, and offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle has taken the same job at Oklahoma. QB John Mateer has transferred to the Sooners as well. Also lost to the portal are other key contributors like RB Wayshawn Parker, WR Kris Hutson, CB Ethan O'Connor and DT Ansel Din-Mbuh.
Syracuse is looking for the seventh 10-win season in program history: Syracuse has never been a dominant college football power despite having some great teams and players. It first won 10 games during the 1987 season, and then did so again in 1988, 1991 and 1992. The Orange then had to wait nearly a decade before doing it again in 2001, and then it wasn't until 2018 they cracked the double-digit win mark again. Now, Brown is looking to do it in his first season in charge.
How to watch Holiday Bowl live
Date: Friday, December 27 | Time: 8 p.m. ET
Location: Snapdragon Stadium -- San Diego, California
TV: Fox | Live stream: Fubo (Try for free)
Holiday Bowl prediction, picks
There are two primary factors I'm considering here. The first is that Syracuse is the better team of the two, and it enters the game with much better vibes than a Cougars team on a three-game losing streak. The second is that Fran Brown has his team bought in. In an era that includes players opting out of bowl games with regularity, Syracuse is expected to be as close to full strength as possible this time of year. We cannot say the same about Washington State. Pick: Syracuse -9.5
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