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With one more game left before Atlantic Coast Conference play, Syracuse has plenty of legwork ahead if it wants to reach the NCAA Tournament.

After another fairly unconvincing win, a 91-83 victory over Northeastern Saturday where SU’s defense played poorly, the Orange dropped from No. 79 to 84 on KenPom, the fifth-worst mark among ACC programs. Syracuse is even worse in the NCAA NET Rankings, where it sits at 95th in the country.

If the Orange were hypothetically in the Atlantic 10, they would rank sixth in the conference on KenPom. But head coach Adrian Autry’s squad has another chance to up their national standing Monday in the JMA Wireless Dome against the Stonehill Skyhawks, one of the nation’s lowest-rated teams, according to many statistical categories.

Here’s how our beat writers think Syracuse (8-4, ACC) will fare against Stonehill (3-9, Northeast) in its 2025-26 nonconference finale:

Aiden Stepansky (9-3)
Stone Cold
Syracuse 85, Stonehill 66

And that’s the bottom line, cause Stone Cold said so. Syracuse’s nonconference schedule is getting to a laughable point, where the squads the Orange are playing have become a play on words for each beat writer’s prediction article. The reality, however, is that SU is making these low-level squads look daunting.

The Orange have actually lost their last three second halves, falling in the final 20 minutes versus Hofstra, Mercyhurst and Northeastern by a combined minus-6 margin. That’s not good. While Syracuse should be taking care of business at a higher level comparable to its early-season stretch, I do feel part of the issue has been fatigue of playing these bottom feeders. The end is in sight, and a win over Stone Cold, I mean Stonehill, will be the bottom line.

If SU doesn’t beat the Skyhawks by double digits, it has some serious issues. Stonehill is one of the worst offensive teams in the country at a 94.2 adjusted efficiency and doesn’t force many turnovers on defense. The Orange should pull away within the first few possessions and never look back.

Of course, there’s the question surging around Syracuse’s defense taking a step back. But I see the balance as a good thing. The Orange have shown they can play stout defense. They’re beginning to show some offensive capabilities, even with horrific 3-point shooting. Get through this game and the real games begin.

Cooper Andrews (9-3)
1 final cupcake
Syracuse 79, Stonehill 57

If the Chicago Bears can beat the Green Bay Packers — via an overtime strike from Caleb Williams to DJ Moore — then truly anything can happen in sports. However, there’s a few realities that are impossible for one to conceive of: including Stonehill upsetting Syracuse in the JMA Wireless Dome.

That unthinkable result will not occur on Monday, as the Orange should easily handle business in their final nonconference matchup of the 2025-26 regular season. We’ve seen SU play like an AAU team before this season, particularly in its 70-69 loss to Hofstra, but Stonehill is on a different stratosphere of bad.

KenPom has the Skyhawks as the 26th-worst team in Division I at the moment, ranking No. 340 out of 365 programs. They are the second-worst squad Syracuse will face this season, just in front of Binghamton — KenPom’s third-lowest rated team that SU demolished in its season opener. There’s not much analysis to be done on Stonehill. It’s one of the least-efficient offenses in the nation with a defense that forces fewer turnovers than any team in the country.

So, if the Orange are ever that close with the Skyhawks, they really need to look themselves in the mirror. But I think they’ll post one of their better wire-to-wire performances of the year thus far and enter ACC play on a high note. From there, though, it’s anybody’s guess how Autry and Co. will fare down the stretch.

Justin Girshon (9-3)
Last layup
Syracuse 82, Stonehill 64

At long last, Syracuse has made it to its final nonconference matchup. After the Orange’s first three games, it looked like the contests would just be a matter of how much they’d win by and how that’d impact their NET Ranking and other metrics.

As we’ve seen of late, that hasn’t been the reality. Instead, SU’s played down to its lowly competition’s level, sinking to its lowest KenPom and NET Rankings of the year after squeaking by Northeastern on Saturday.

Luckily for Syracuse, Stonehill is probably the worst team it will face this year. And I foresee the Orange taking care of business. It was great to Naithan George percolate for his best game of the year on Saturday, and if he is the player on the court once again, SU should easily win its last layup game.

Published on December 22, 2025 at 10:06 am