A nationwide flight grounding on Friday sent college programs scrambling, but Syracuse’s weekend plans have mostly stayed intact.
The Orange football team was already on its way to Raleigh, and before 5:00 p.m. ET the Syracuse Football “X” account posted “Grounded in Raleigh.”
Syracuse has arrived for its road game against North Carolina State, with kickoff set for 12:00 p.m. ET on Saturday.
Basketball’s travel situation is still a little less clear. Syracuse is set to face St.
John’s on Sunday night at 7:00 p.m. ET at Madison Square Garden, about 250 miles from the JMA Wireless Dome.
The Orange could fly on Saturday or take a bus, but the team has not confirmed its arrival in New York yet.
Men’s soccer no longer has to worry about getting somewhere this weekend. Ian McIntyre’s team lost to top-seeded SMU on Thursday night in the ACC tournament, which ended any immediate travel need. Syracuse will learn its NCAA Tournament fate on Monday during the NCAA Tournament selection show.
The women’s soccer team is scheduled to host Canisius on Sunday at 7:00 p.m. ET. Canisius is based in Buffalo, roughly 150 miles away, so the Golden Griffins won’t need a plane for that trip.
Across the college sports landscape, the disruption has been wider. ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that no ACC teams have been affected by travel problems, but several major programs were caught in the mess, including Baylor, Kansas State, Utah, Arizona State, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas, Minnesota, Purdue, Washington, North Texas, Oregon State and Wyoming.
A few game times have already shifted. Auburn and Mississippi State will now play at 4:15 p.m.
ET, while Central Florida and Arizona State will kick off at 5:30 p.m. ET.
Washington’s trip to Michigan State is still without a game time, and Oregon State, which had been set to bus to Boise State, will now fly after all.
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The comeback leaves Syracuse with bowl eligibility still within reach, and the math is simple from here: one more win in the final two games gets the Orange to the postseason. After the way this one unfolded, it was the kind of victory that can matter as much for belief as it does for the standings, especially for a team trying to turn a messy afternoon into momentum. [Read more 🡒]