The culmination of the nation realizing Syracuse is now a football school
Teams: No. 21 Syracuse Orange (9-3, 5-3) vs Washington State Cougars (8-4)
Day & Time: Friday, December 27, 8:00 pm ET
Location: Snapdragon Stadium, San Diego, CA
Line: Syracuse is a big favorite according to Fanduel’s odds. The Orange initially opened as -5.5 point favorites but now the line has drastically shifted to Syracuse -16.5
TV/Streaming: FOX, foxsports.com
Radio: Cuse.com, TK 99/105, WAER 88.3, Sirius/XM 371
Rivalry: Syracuse, 1-0
Current Streak: 1, Syracuse
First/Last Meeting: Due to the construction of the Carrier Dome, the only meeting in 1979 between Syracuse and Washington State took place at Rich Stadium in Orchard Park, New York, the home of the Buffalo Bills. Syracuse won the game 52-25.
Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images
Head Coaches: Syracuse: Fran Brown (first year, 9-3) | Washington State: Pete Kaligis (interim, 0-0)
Coach Bio: A Washington state native, Kaligis played his football as an offensive lineman at the University of Washington. He also was an All-American in the shot put. After a few assistant jobs to get started, his first DI coaching job was back at Washington as an assistant strength and conditioning coach. His first full-time DI position coaching job was with Montana before spending 13 years in various roles at Wyoming. Kaligis moved to Washington State in 2022 as the assistant head coach and the defensive tackles coach. He was named interim head coach for the Holiday Bowl after Jake Dickert took the Wake Forest head coaching job.
Last Year: Washington State started the 2023 season well with two ranked wins over Wisconsin and Oregon State. However, the Cougars then dropped six straight games in the middle of the year. Washington State needed a win over Washington in the Apple Cup to reach bowl eligibility, but came up just short.
Last Game: Washington State had a 14-3 lead over Wyoming with 9:42 to go in the 2nd quarter at home. However, the Cougars failed to score another point in the game. Wyoming scored a touchdown with 25 seconds left to escape Pullman with a 15-14 win. The victory would give Wyoming only its third win of the year.
Photo by Soobum Im/Getty Images
“Fear Me, I’ve Killed Hundreds of Timelords”: Washington State will not have starting quarterback John Mateer for the Holiday Bowl. He’s transferred to Oklahoma. His favorite receiving target, however, is playing his final game as a Cougar. Kyle Williams racked up 1,026 receiving yards on 60 catches with 13 touchdowns.
If Syracuse Wins: We celebrate 10 wins like it’s 2018.
If Syracuse Loses: So does Syracuse need to play on an aircraft carrier to win in San Diego?
Fun Fact: Syracuse is tied for the most wins against bowl eligible teams this season, with eight heading into the postseason. Only Texas achieved the same amount of wins against bowl eligible teams in the regular season.