The Orange compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

Formed in 1889, the program has amassed over 740 wins and has achieved one consensus national championship in 1959, defeating the Texas Longhorns in that season's Cotton Bowl.

[6] Syracuse has had 18 members inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, 2nd-most in the ACC, including former players Ernie Davis, Tim Green, Don McPherson, Art Monk and former coaches Vic Hanson, Ben Schwartzwalder, and Dick MacPherson.

[7] The Orange boast 8 inductees in the Pro Football Hall Of Fame, tied for the 4th-most of any school, including Jim Brown, Marvin Harrison, Larry Csonka, and Floyd Little.

With the construction of "state-of-the-art" Archbold Stadium in 1907, Syracuse rose to national prominence under College Football Hall of Fame coach Frank "Buck" O'Neill.

shortly before a game against Maryland, a black sportswriter, Sam Lacy wrote an article in the Baltimore Afro-American, revealing Sidat-Singh's true racial identity.

During his tenure at Syracuse, he tutored a young assistant coach named Bud Wilkinson, who went on to lead the Oklahoma Sooners to win three national championships.

[18] Jim Brown (a high school standout from Manhasset, New York),[19][20] considered to be one of the greatest running backs of all time, as well as one of the greatest players in NFL history,[21] was a consensus first-team All-American in 1956, finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting and set school records for highest season rush average (6.2) and most rushing touchdowns in a single game (6).

The team featured sophomore running back Ernie Davis of Elmira, New York, who went on to become the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy in 1961,[23] and All-American tackle Ron Luciano, who eventually become a prominent Major League Baseball umpire.

Syracuse remained competitive through the 1960s with a series of All-American running backs, including Floyd Little and Larry Csonka (both inductees in the Pro Football Hall of Fame).

In 1969, a group of nine African American student-athletes boycotted Syracuse University's football program to demand change and promote racial equality.

[32] Nonetheless, Maloney did recruit a number of future NFL stars such as Joe Morris and Pro Football Hall of Fame member Art Monk.

[34] Ironically enough, this call from program alumni came during the 1979 season, Maloney's best at Syracuse, when the Orangemen qualified for the Independence Bowl, beating McNeese State.

[37] However, the fans' opinion of Coach MacPherson changed when the program returned suddenly to national prominence in 1987 with an undefeated 11–0 regular season record.

[49] Syracuse, meanwhile, joined the newly formed Big East football conference with traditional rival West Virginia University, and national power Miami.

[55][56] Although they won a share of the Big East title in 2004 and competed in the Champs Sports Bowl,[57] the teams from 2002 to 2004 were considered mediocre by Syracuse standards.

[60] The 2005 season started on a high note as Syracuse nearly upset eventual Big East and Sugar Bowl champion West Virginia, forcing five turnovers in the 15–7 loss.

[119] For much of its history, Syracuse played as an independent, as did the majority of what are now labeled as Division I FBS football-playing schools located in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.

The process of picking an Eastern Champion eventually came to be symbolized by the Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy awarded by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority beginning in 1936.

Brown was one of the NFL's earliest social issues activists along with a group of top African American athletes from different sporting disciplines such as Bill Russell, Muhammad Ali and Kareem Abdul Jabbar.

During his Cotton Bowl visit to host city Dallas, Texas, Ernie and his black teammates found discrimination prevalent in the American South.

Author Jocelyn Selim writes that at the banquet following the 1960 game, Davis was told he could only accept his award and then would be required to leave the segregated facility when the doors were opened to the public for a dance.

Another statue of Davis stands on the campus of Syracuse University, near the steps of Hendricks Chapel and the Shaw Quad where pre-game pep rallies are held.

Statues of Davis (second on campus), Brown and Little are at Syracuse University's Plaza 44, commemorating the number the running backs wore while playing football.

The trophy was introduced in 1993 and is named after former WVU football player and Syracuse head coach Ben Schwartzwalder, who had died in March of that year.

[149] During its glory years beginning with the first bowl game appearance in 1952, Syracuse football used to wear white jerseys and orange pants at home at Archbold stadium.

From 1952 to 1966, coach Ben Schwartzwalder, with his military background and always looking for an edge, thought white jerseys made his players look bigger, faster and stronger.

Only Notre Dame (13), USC (13), Michigan (11), Ohio State (10), Miami (9), and Pittsburgh (9) have more representatives in the Pro Football Hall of Fame than Syracuse.

The stadium's front entrance defined the character of Archbold, which consisted of an impressive cement arch and two epic towers, which extended high above the archway.

In addition to providing the university and the fans with an aesthetically beautiful stadium, Archbold gave the Orange football team a distinct home field advantage for all 71 years of its existence.