Iowa pulled out a 20-13 double-overtime win Saturday at the Carrier Dome. It was Syracuse's its 11th straight loss, the longest such streak in the program's 116-year history. Syracuse did go 15 games without a win from the start of the 1892 season to mid

Syracuse had a good chance to end its streak of futility and upset a ranked opponent Saturday. But much like nearly all of second-year head coach Greg Robinson's games with the Orange, it wasn't to be. Iowa pulled out a 20-13 double-overtime win Saturday at the Carrier Dome. It was Syracuse's its 11th straight loss, the longest such streak in the program's 116-year history. Syracuse did go 15 games without a win from the start of the 1892 season to midway through the 1893 campaign. But that stretch was "highlighted" by a 0-0 tie with the Syracuse Athletic Association "It's unfortunate. Our kids, they need to win," Robinson said Monday. "That part of it was tough to swallow."

The Orange's last win came when they beat Buffalo on 31-0 Sept. 10, 2005. Syracuse (0-2) lost its final nine games to finish 1-10 last season.

Illinois, which was shut out by Rutgers last week, will host Syracuse this weekend.

"We're not looking for moral victories, we're looking for wins," Robinson said. "We have to get over that hump."

UCONN-INDIANA SET — UConn's game at Indiana on Sept. 23 in Bloomington will kick off at 3:30 p.m. and will be broadcast by ESPN Regional, the school announced Monday.

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Locally, the game can be seen on WCTX, now known as MyTV9, and on SportsNet-New York.

The Huskies (1-0) host Wake Forest Saturday, a game that will be seen on ESPN360, the network's broadband service.

OFF WEEK WORK — A rest period of 15 days so early in the season might seem pointless to some, but UConn coach Randy Edsall says the time off has helped his team improve.

"It just gave us a chance to continue to work on the fundamentals and techniques, also to get some repetitions for younger, inexperienced guys," Edsall said Monday. "I thought we had a productive (off) week."

MENDING FENCES? — Syracuse and Boston College recently agreed to an eight-year deal to play each other in football beginning in 2010. It may seem odd for the Orange to accept a deal with a school that bolted for the ACC only two years ago, but Robinson didn't see it that way.

"I wasn't here for the animosity. I don't know about all that," Robinson said.

"I do know that Syracuse and Boston College is a longstanding traditional game. It only makes sense that we play a team like that. They want to play us. We want to play them."

Boston College Athletic Director Gene DeFilippo expressed similar sentiments to the Boston Globe, but made it clear that UConn and BC won't be getting together any time soon. After first saying that "UConn wants to play us in football" — something Edsall has said himself — DeFilippo added a caveat.

"I didn't say that we wanted to play UConn," DeFilippo told the Globe's Michael Vega. "I just said they wanted to play us. At this point, I have no interest in playing them."

Though UConn would appear to be getting the short end of the stick in this situation — missing out on playing a regional rival and the chance of upsetting a historically stronger and more talented team — the opposite scenario is playing out in the sport of men's basketball.

Though he typically adds a compliment to BC coach Al Skinner, UConn basketball coach Jim Calhoun has repeatedly said he has no desire to play Boston College following its defection.

MENDING FENCES II — One of the marquee games on this weekend's schedule is Miami's visit to Louisville, another matchup of a former Big East member and a current one.

"Our fans are certainly fired up about it," Petrino said. "It's a game they've been looking forward to ever since we played Miami a couple years ago," said Louisville coach Bobby Petrino, referring to a 41-38 loss to then-No. 3 Miami that his team suffered in the Orange Bowl on Oct. 14, 2004.

As for the conference realignment issues surrounding the game, Petrino didn't consider it a factor.

"I'm sure it is to some of the people that were in the conference with them," Petrino said. "As far as we go, we're just happy to be in the Big East Conference. It should be a great football game for us.

"As far as them leaving the conference, it doesn't play into it as far as us."

EXTRA POINT — Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt, whose team beat Cincinnati Saturday to start 2-0 under its second-year coach, is seemingly better than it was in 2005. "We're a better team. I said that before the season started," Wannstedt said. "But it's still early. Does that mean one-win better, no wins better or three wins?"