I agree with Red about ND.
As for Syracuse, they have some of the same problems as GT: Poor shooting, especially from the arc, and too many turnovers. On the plus side for them: They have held six opponents to under 50 points. Given our offensive troubles, that is a daunting stat. Plus, they are a good "road" team. That is, they came within a bucket of Michigan in Ann Arbor and lost to Villanova in OT in Philly. McCamish will not scare them.
The beginning of our ACC schedule is tough. I think we should prepare ourselves for a 1-5 record when we come for the BC game in late January, and should be happy that the train is still on the tracks if we are 2-4. A 3-3 record is sign of good things ahead.
ND, Louisville, UVA, Duke, UNC, NC State, Syracuse, and Miami are all better, on paper and by their records, than GT. I think we are about even with Pitt, and better, as before , than Clemson, FSU, VPI, BC and Wake. That puts us at somewhere around ninth or tenth in the conference. The problem is our schedule. It does not line up well for us. We will be the favorite in four home games and the underdog in five. I think we will be the favorite in only two away games and the dog in seven. I have us the dog vs. Pitt because we play them on the road.
It still looks like the expectation should be 6-7 wins. I think the upside is 8 wins and the downside is 4-5 wins. When you think about it, 17-13 is not too bad given where we are. If we could win a game in the ACCT, that would give us the 18 win season we hoped for. And keep BG on the job.