When Syracuse began Atlantic Coast Conference play last year, its schedule became harder than those of the recent Big East seasons.

And with the release of the preseason USA Today Amway Coaches poll on Thursday, it seems that the Orange’s 2014 schedule won’t be any easier than its first try at the ACC. In fact, it could be a lot harder.

Here’s a look at how the 2013 schedule looked at the time of last year’s preseason poll release — compared to this season.

Top 25 opponents 

A year ago the Orange was prepping for No. 8 Clemson, No. 12 Florida State and No. 22 Northwestern. Now, No. 1 Florida State, No. 16 Clemson and No. 17 Notre Dame await.

Top 25 point system

The coaches poll scoring system is pretty clearcut. A coach’s first-place vote is worth 25 points, second-place vote 24 and all the way down to the 25th-place vote being worth one point. The difference between Syracuse’s Top 25 opponents from last year’s poll and this year’s poll is 510 points to the more difficult in 2014.

Total teams receiving Top 25 votes

Only opponents that cracked the Top 25 received votes in 2013. This time around, Duke and Louisville each collected votes despite finishing outside of the Top 25, giving the schedule some sharper edges. Duke grabbed 41 votes and Louisville 32.

Looking forward

Last season, ACC and divisional opponents Florida State and Clemson proved some of the strongest teams SU had seen in years, a visit to MetLife Stadium welcomed highly profiled Penn State and visits to Northwestern and Georgia Tech didn’t provide any breathers. The Orange was 0-5 in those games and three of those teams had appeared in the first coaches poll.

With five teams already promising to be staunch competition in 2014, the field is only strengthening.

Published on August 1, 2014 at 1:17 pm

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse