The Syracuse Orange have a herculean task ahead of them if they have any chance of making the NCAA Tournament. Yesterday, we went through the things that would need to happen, but we’re still stuck with the same SU team, flaws and all.
Unless... Rico returns.
You all remember Rico, Tyler Lydon’s mustache. His existence was the best part of last season, until the best part of last season (the Final Four).
But it wasn’t just for aesthetics. Rico was also a bit of a good luck charm for the Orange. His appearance last year coincided with some wins, then one loss (to Louisville) and Lydon got rid of it. Rico was back for Dayton, then disappeared once more.
Syracuse still managed to move through the NCAA Tournament without the infamous facial hair. But maybe his powers only extend to the regular season?
So why not give it a shot?
If Lydon’s facial hair is still growing at the same rate it was last year (he told Syracuse.com it took 10 days to grow Rico in February), then there’s no way that mustache is close to back by Saturday. But knowing my own personal mustache/beard experience, it grew about twice as fast as a sophomore as it did as a freshman. So... maybe we’re waiting five days from when he starts growing it? Hopefully that was on Tuesday.
The moral here is that nothing can really hurt SU at this point. Rico, lucky socks, pre-game rituals -- we’ll take anything to try and right the ship and make another unlikely run toward the postseason.
It probably doesn’t happen. That’s fine. But if we’re going to miss the NCAAs, we may as well have fun doing so.