The Syracuse football team is just eight days away from taking the field for the first time in 2026, but we're already getting news about the 2027 campaign. 

Earlier this week, we got some more news on Syracuse's season opener for 2027, which will be played in Toronto against Wake Forest.

On Friday, the NCAA announced sweeping changes to the college football calendar. Now, the season will open in what is now known as "Week 0," meaning that there will be no more Week 0. It will effectively become Week 1. What moving the season up a week does is ensure that every team will have two bye weeks over the course of the year.

In theory, that should help in the department of player safety, which teams getting an extra week of recovery through the course of a long season.

And with the season going longer because of more College Football Playoff games, that could be vital to programs that play deeper into the season.

Furthermore, the offseason is about to get changes to the transfer portal, as the NCAA announced that the transfer portal window will be only 10 days instead of 15. The portal will open on the first business day after Jan. 1, which is Jan. 4 in 2027.

That means that players will have to be committed to their decisions to transfer earlier, and programs will then have a better idea of how many people they need to replace and at what positions.

It should be noted that portal deadline only applies to those entering the portal. Players can sign with new programs at any time after entering.

This past portal season, the Orange lost a handful of key players, including running back Yasin Willis (Kansas) and wide receiver Darrell Gill Jr. (Ole Miss). The Orange also gained several players who should play a key role this season, including running back Ahmad Miller (Jackson State), linebacker Chris A'ppolonia (Toledo) and WR Cole Weaver (Miami OH). The Orange also brought in three backup quarterbacks, including Amari Odom of Kennesaw State.

It should be noted that these changes have to be approved at the October Competition Committee meeting, but it feels like they are likely to pass.

The Orange will finish out the live portion of training camp on Friday and they will transition to game week preparation on Monday.

Syracuse will open up the 2026 season on Sept. 5 against New Hampshire. The Orange went 3-9 a season ago, but we have bigger expectations for them this season.

This is the third year under head coach Fran Brown, who won 10 games in his rookie season (2024).