Colgate-Syracuse will play for just the fourth time since 1987 this year. Although some dismiss the game as just another paycheck game, it has more history than your average tune-up contest. It seems the ACC sees value in this rivalry, with 68 meetings and over 120 years of history. Last week, the conference listed it in its slate of Friday night contests.
ACC will feature 10 Friday night games this season
The Colgate-Syracuse game may not be the center of the college football universe on September 12. Still, it will be a significant player, returning to the national limelight after years of obscurity.
Many fans of both schools may not remember the rivalry's heyday, but it was regularly a game of national importance. The 1932 Colgate team made a statement to the Rose Bowl with a 24-0 November win over Syracuse. However, the interest was unrequited. The Rose Bowl snubbed the 9-0 Raiders, earning them the iconic "undefeated, untied, unscored upon, and uninvited" nickname. In 1959, #1 Syracuse embarrassed Colgate with a 71-8 win on the way to their only national title. Two years later, legendary Syracuse halfback Ernie Davis scored a pair of touchdowns in a win over the Raiders en route to becoming the first Black Heisman winner. These are just a few lively and nationally-important moments in this storied rivalry.
The Division I split in 1978 and the creation of the Patriot League in the 1980s, which stayed non-scholarship until the 2010s, froze iconic rivalries like Colgate-Syracuse and Holy Cross-Boston College. Both rivalries returned to relative anonymity, receiving suboptimal slots on the ACC Network, ESPN3, and even ACC Network Extra. (H/T to the incomparable mattsarzsports.net for this data).
Colgate-Syracuse seemed destined for a similar fate this year. In 2024, all but two games aired on ACC Network Extra were FCS-ACC games. Nonetheless, the conference and Syracuse University saw value in making Colgate-Syracuse a standalone Friday night game.
The Friday night spot is rare exposure for Colgate, rivaled only by Week Zero appearances on ESPNU in 2017 and CBS Sports Network in 2019.
ESPN should showcase the history of both programs throughout the Friday night broadcast beyond a simple "Series History" graphic. Unfortunately, ESPN has the same "one size fits all" approach to broadcasting any game outside the College Football Playoff. Thus, this attention to detail and care is just wishful thinking.
A linear TV slot underneath the Friday night lights is rarified air for Patriot League-Power Four crossovers. Although Colgate-Syracuse may not be what it once was, the two schools can give the nation a glimpse into how meaningful this battle for central New York once was.
