Kansas State Wildcats @ Syracuse Orange New Era Pinstripe Bowl Pick

Kansas State Wildcats @ Syracuse Orange New Era Pinstripe Bowl Pick: I can’t believe I’m taking the Syracuse Orange in this one, I mean, I looked at this spread on the surface and I was definitely excited about getting the Wildcats in a basic “pick’em” game against the weak Syracuse team. But the more I looked, the more I dug in, the more I liked what the Orange have been doing- they way they’re turning into a real football program. They way they are coached, I fully expect them to be all-in for this experience. This is a team that doesn’t see a lot of football success, and with a great turnaround and a 7-5 season, it’s hard for me to see them losing.

As good as Kansas State’s own run game is (that’s Daniel Thomas, by the way, his 1495 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns easily make him the go-to-guy on this club) their run defense almost always makes the opposition look just as good. Only 4 times in the last 10 games have the Wildcats won the rushing-yard comparison. 3 of those games were against the likes of North Texas, Kansas, and Iowa State. The other was against Texas, and the Longhorns have shown an inability to stop the run against mediocre teams this year (like UCLA) and have no run-game themselves. Kansas State has been crushed on the ground at times this season, and I think Syracuse will find some success running the ball. That should open up a lot in their passing game, which has been pretty efficient this year.

The Orange don’t score much, and they went 1-3 down the stretch – but K-State is just very unimpressive. As far as I can see, they have one solid win, Central Florida, and two if you count beating Texas as impressive. With Daniel Thomas being the big-name skill guy here, I still wouldn’t be surprised if Delone Carter (Syracuse’s leading rusher) ends up having the bigger game.

Kansas State Wildcats @ Syracuse Orange (-1)