Syracuse vs. Pittsburgh: TV Schedule, Live Stream, Radio, Game Time and More

The Syracuse Orange and Pittsburgh Panthers are both fighting for their postseason lives when they clash on Saturday afternoon.

Each team is 5-6 right now and one win away from making a bowl. We are going to see a very hard-fought game to decide who moves on and who goes home.

Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about this game and who is going to be bowl-bound.

Where: Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, PA

When: Saturday, Dec. 3 at 12:00 p.m. ET

Watch: ESPN2/ESPN3

Listen: 1420 AM WACK—Syracuse, 1420 AM ESPN—Pittsburgh

Betting Line: Pittsburgh -10.5

Key Storyline: Bowl Eligibility

Both teams are need a win to be eligible for a bowl game after this.

You know the kids on each side of the field will be fighting tooth and nail to have a solid ending to their season and give their seniors one last chance to go bowling.

Syracuse has lost four straight and has one last desperate chance to pull out a win as an underdog on the road in Pittsburgh.

Pitt has had an up-and-down season with some solid wins and some heartbreaking losses. Finishing it off with a bowl appearance would be a good way to end it on a positive note.

Who Might Not Play for Syracuse: S Phillip Thomas, OUT (Suspended)

The Orange’s leading tackler and Big East’s leader in interceptions has been banned from the team for one year.

He violated an athletic department policy and will most likely be transferring.

Who Might Not Play for Pittsburgh: RB Zack Brown, QST (Sternum)

The senior back bruised his sternum against WVU and is questionable to play in the season finale. Isaac Bennett, a true freshman, is slated to start if Brown must sit.  

BCS/Top 25 Implications

Neither team has any chance of going to a BCS bowl or placing in any Top 25 poll.

These are simply two mediocre Big East teams going at it to make some sort of bowl game.

Both of these programs are jumping ship to greener ACC pastures within a few years and will look to start recruiting kids who want to join them when that transition happens.

What They're Saying

Andrea Adelson of ESPN.com found that Orange coach Doug Marrone appreciates the fact that his team is lucky enough to still have a shot at a bowl.

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"We talked about that after the game a little bit. A lot of times as you get older in life, you don't get many second chances," Marrone said at his weekly news conference. "You definitely don't [get] a lot of third, fourth, fifth or sixth chances. We're in a position now where this is our fifth opportunity. It's probably the last time that we'll ever have this opportunity where you have five opportunities to get to a bowl. 

"You have to take advantage of it, and we haven't been able to do it for four straight weeks. We have that opportunity, and obviously that should be good motivation, but there has to be more to it than that because that's been the motivation for the past four weeks." 

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Paul Zeise at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that Panthers coach Todd Graham feels this is an important game and that his team will have their best practices and be rewarded with a trip to a bowl game this week.

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"I told the seniors today that this week is obviously about them with senior day coming up on Saturday," Graham said. "We want them to finish up with a win at Heinz Field. We want to get this program bowl eligible, which is very important.

"We want to be bowl eligible this season for the seniors and for the future of this program. The practices we have now are invaluable."

 

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Syracuse Player To Watch: Ryan Nassib

When Nassib is good, this team can be special. He hooked up with Nick Provo for three touchdowns on his way to four on the day in their upset win against the WVU Mountaineers earlier in the season.

He also punched another score in on the ground.

If they can get play like that again from their QB, Syracuse can certainly win this game.

Pittsburgh Player To Watch: Isaac Bennett

When Pittsburgh lit up then-No. 16 South Florida, they did it on the legs of Ray Graham, who went berserk and lit the Bulls up for 226 yards and two TDs.

They lost him a few games ago and now may be without senior backup Zack Brown.

This means Bennett, who has had just 35 carries this season as a true freshman, will get a chance to prove he deserves to be the Panthers starting RB next year.

Key Matchup: Turnover Battle

Whoever wins the turnover battle by forcing them on special teams and defense will win this game.

These teams are tightly matched with a slight edge to Pittsburgh right now, but with nothing to lose and everything to gain for the kids, were going to see the this game won by whoever comes up with the takeaways.

Prediction: Pittsburgh 24 Syracuse 17