PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Just two weeks ago, it seemed a near certainty. The Orangemen stood at 5-3, and led Miami on the road, 10-7, through three quarters. SU stood just one quarter away from bowl eligibility and erasing the memories of last year’s 4-8 effort.

Sure, Syracuse went on to lose, 17-10, but West Virginia was coming to the Carrier Dome – SU hadn’t lost to the Mountaineers at home since 1993. No problem, Syracuse figured. It would take care of the Big East’s hottest team. The Orangemen lost, 34-23.

Strike two. Bottom-feeder Rutgers loomed in the distance. SU had lost only twice to the Scarlet Knights since 1986. That is, until Saturday.

The Orangemen’s 24-7 loss at Rutgers Stadium all but eliminated them from a bowl spot. Even though a win in this Saturday’s season finale against Notre Dame would improve SU to 6-6 and make it bowl eligible, a bowl spot will likely be unavailable for the Orangemen.

The only slight possibility the Orangemen have at reaching a bowl game is beating Notre Dame. If a conference doesn’t have enough bowl eligible teams to fill its bowl allotment, the bowl can invite an eligible team from another conference. Still, a team from a small Central New York television market that rarely sells out even its own stadium, with a 2-5 conference record and coming off a loss to Rutgers isn’t very attractive.

In fact, should the Orangemen fall to Notre Dame, SU will finish below Rutgers in the conference standings, ahead of only Temple.

‘We played a hot West Virginia team,’ quarterback R.J. Anderson said. ‘We played Miami at home and they’ve probably lost there like four times in the last 15 years, and now we played a much-improved Rutgers team.’

Several other factors have contributed to the Orangemen missing a bowl game. An Oct. 18, 39-14 win over Boston College dropped the Eagles to 1-2 in conference play. Back-to-back losses to Pittsburgh and WVU dropped them to 1-4 in the league as of Nov. 8. At that time the Orangemen were 2-2.

But the Eagles won their last two Big East games against Rutgers and Virginia Tech, while SU collapsed. Coming out of nowhere to slip into fifth place in the conference, BC has already accepted a bid to the Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl on New Year’s Eve – a game that many had the Orangemen penciled in for.

All the other Big East bowl spots have been filled as well. Virginia Tech has accepted an invitation to the Insight.com Bowl on Dec. 26. The Panthers will play Virginia in the Continental Tire Bowl on Dec. 27, and West Virginia will take on Maryland in the Gator Bowl on New Year’s Day. Big East champion Miami earned the Big East Bowl Championship Series spot and will stay home and play in the Orange Bowl.

Just a few weeks ago, it appeared Saturday’s game against the Fighting Irish would likely send the winner west for a New Year’s bowl party. Now, with BC’s resurgence and Syracuse’s collapse, the winner most likely goes home for the holidays.

This marks the first time since 1993 and 1994 that Syracuse will miss a bowl in back-to-back seasons. Come the end of December, head coach Paul Pasqualoni may be collecting his walking papers rather than a bowl victory.

‘No one expected to lose six games going into the last game,’ senior linebacker Rich Scanlon said. ‘This is not the way I envisioned it going. As captain I take responsibility.

‘I think this year is harder because the attitude turned around completely, and guys did a great job of fighting back. I don’t think there was the disheartenment of last year. That’s the difference this year, and that’s why it’s much more of a disappointment to come close so many times. It hasn’t gone right for whatever reason.’

Published on December 1, 2003 at 12:00 pm