Syracuse is officially entering the Gerry McNamara era, with the Orange set to open the regular season on Monday evening at 7 p.m. at the JMA Wireless Dome against New Haven.

The team features plenty of new faces who could contribute immediately, along with returning players looking to take the next step. Here's my season predictions for the team.

Where Syracuse sits in the preseason poll

The ACC preseason media poll ranked Syracuse 11th in the conference, setting relatively modest expectations for the first season of the McNamara era.

McNamara, however, brings experience from both his time as an assistant at Syracuse and three seasons as Siena's head coach. He finished 37-30 with the Saints, won a MAAC Tournament championship, and led Siena to an NCAA Tournament appearance.

Now, McNamara takes over a Syracuse roster with depth at nearly every position, plus a mix of experienced transfers and young players with room to develop.

Win/loss prediction

I have Syracuse finishing the regular season 21-11.

I rate the Orange higher than preseason expectations because of McNamara's previous success and the depth of this roster. Syracuse has multiple scoring options, experienced players, and enough versatility to create different lineups depending on the matchup.

Questions remain, particularly on defense and how quickly a roster with so many new pieces can develop chemistry. Those concerns could determine whether Syracuse simply improves or takes a much bigger step forward.

But it's clear that the team must be greater than the sum of its parts. Syracuse appears to lack a go-to scorer, or perhaps it doesn't. Aiden Tobiason could be that alpha scorer, but he's still working his way back from a hampstring injury that he suffered in the exhibtion opener against Connecticut.

How quickly Tobiason returns and integrates into the lineup could have an early effect on Syracuse's non-conference slate, which will be challenging with matchups against Indiana, St. John's, Providence, and Oklahoma.

Will SU get back to the dance?

My prediction is that the Orange will do enough to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021. McNamara's two teams at Siena progressively improved as the season wore on, and I see Syracuse gelling at the right time to make a push in its ACC schedule.

For McNamara, returning Syracuse to March in his first season would be more than a successful debut. It would be the first major step toward bringing back to national relevance a program he once helped lead as a player.

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