The Paul Pasqualoni days are looking like the glory years of the Syracuse Orange now that 6 years have passed since his firing
. After a 6-6 season that ended with a Champs Sports Bowl loss to Georgia Tech 14-51 that sparked his firing after he was assured to be returning for 2005. Pasqualoni had only 1 losing season in college football odds for his 14 years and many Syracuse fans may regret having run him off. The Greg Robinson era that followed was a disaster in which the best season was 4-8 in 2006. Doug Marrone was hired to clean up the mess and began with a 4-8 mark last year while the Orange covered 6 games against the spread. Online sportsbooks have the Syracuse Orange at 350-1 to win in 2011 BCS predictions or 15-1 to win the Big East Conference.
While many believe that Marrone may have stopped the bleeding, this is a team that still has a long way to go. The positive news looking ahead to 2010 college football betting odds that 10 starters return to a defense that cut its points per game allowed by nearly a touchdown last year. Senior running back Delone Carter also returns after rushing for 1021 yards and 11 touchdowns last year. Sophomore Ryan Nassib, who saw a fair amount of action last year, has the arm and athleticism to spark hope for an improvement on the unit's 21 points per game of 2009.
Last season was just the second of the last five in which Syracuse made a profit in college football betting odds at online sportsbooks. Marrone certainly gave the program some much needed order and stability and has NFL credibility as a former assistant in the league before taking the SU job. He will run off the offense himself this season after firing his coordinator and is known for running the high octane New Orleans offense prior to arriving at Syracuse.