Syracuse football: Clemson wearing purple, SU wearing... orange?

The Syracuse Orange haven’t done a great job staking their claim to the color... orange since arriving in the ACC. With four other schools (Clemson, Miami, Virginia, Virginia Tech) utilizing the color as well, SU is far from unique in its new conference. That said, it’s in the name. “Orange.” You can stake a claim to it pretty easily, especially once the orange jerseys showed up.

One of the biggest issues regarding that turf war over orange is what we’ve done against Clemson. You may recall the last three years:

• 2015: All-blues
• 2014: All-whites
• 2013: All-blues

On national television (against Clemson and others), we’ve sported a disconcerting lack of orange. Could this be the year that changes, however?

Step one’s already clear. The Tigers will be in purple for the game:

So can/should Syracuse be in orange?

That really depends on whether or not the conversation has already been broached. According to the NCAA rulebook, there are some pretty strict particulars.

The visiting team must wear white jerseys. Exceptions:

(1) The visiting team has agreed in writing before the season that the home teammay where white jerseys (I-a above). In this case, the visitor must wear its colored jerseys.

(2) The teams have agreed in writing before the season that both teams will wear colored jerseys. In this case, the conference of the home team must certify thatthe visiting team’s jersey is of a contrasting color. If at the start of each half the visiting team is wearing a colored jersey without having met theseconditions, there will be a 15-yard penalty on each opening kickoff for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Obviously, this is stupid (especially the penalty part). But knowing the rules, do we think Syracuse has the foresight to talk about it with the Tigers? And beyond that, should they even bring it up?

Syracuse can still wear orange with its pants (helmets are out, since Clemson only wears orange there). But other than that, they’d be in white, or maybe white with blue helmets.

Perhaps it’s all we get. No, it doesn’t really matter. It’s just the principle of these things as a fan. I’d like my team to wear orange because if we can’t win on the field against Clemson, it’s still nice to grab some sort of mental win off of it.