Syracuse (3-7, 1-5 Atlantic Coast) heads to Raleigh, North Carolina to square off with N.C. State (6-4, 2-4) in its penultimate conference game of the year. The Orange has been eliminated from automatic bowl eligibility, but could make a bowl if there aren’t enough six-win teams. SU would have to beat the Wolfpack and Boston College next week. Kickoff from Raleigh is at 12:30 p.m. and the game can be viewed on the ACC Network. Checkout what The Daily Orange’s beat writers predict for this week’s matchup.

Sam Blum (7-3)
Syracuse 30, N.C. State 13
Rock me momma
Syracuse’s best option at quarterback, Zack Mahoney, picks up where he left off against No. 1 Clemson and Syracuse has its best win of the past two seasons. It’s not enough to salvage a season of despair, but it’s enough to make Scott Shafer smile a little bit.

Paul Schwedelson (9-1)
N.C. State 21, Syracuse 14
The Pit
The best restaurant in Raleigh also represents where Syracuse’s season is at. A quick google search yielded the result, “a large hole in the ground” and, in the food department, four stars on TripAdvisor. The battle of two mediocre teams results in another road loss for SU’s young team as fans head to the exits early hungry for more.

Matt Schneidman (8-2)
N.C. State 38, Syracuse 24
Back of the pack
Jacoby Brissett can extend plays longer than the Syracuse defense can handle, and a unit already decimated by youth and injury falters again. The Orange is officially eliminated from bowl contention with its eighth loss and the only uncertainty is if fans will be watching SU’s starting quarterback of the future in Zack Mahoney. Scott Shafer’s seat heats up a little more as Syracuse has one meaningless game, for bowl’s sake at least, left to get out of the way.

Jesse Dougherty (7-3)
N.C. State 27, Syracuse 17
Reinstated
Syracuse snapped out of a season-long funk to compete with No. 1 Clemson last week, but don’t think there’s a permanent new life in this team. There are still too many deficiencies on both sides of the ball to think the Orange can compete for 60 minutes, much less on the road against a viable N.C. State team. With more tape on him, the Officer is handcuffed and starts to look like a walk-on. And hey, who can blame him?