Wisconsin Badgers Switching To Under Armour

[TVIXX]

https://twitter.com/Jeff_Ermann/status/587376051875086337

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YES

[Burmy]

After looking at Maryland's football unis...and now realizing my Badgers will have the same provider:

[TheRicSlick]

After looking at Maryland's football unis...and now realizing my Badgers will have the same provider:

Every uniform manufacture has their fair share of terrible designs. And imo, UA has the least of them. So just because they go outrages for one team (IMO, Maryland has some good uniforms) doesn't mean they're going to deck the Badgers out like the Terrapins.

[mjd77]

Really wish they would have gone with Nike.

[OnWis97]

I don't really like this news. As someone who has no manufacturer loyalty, I tend to fear change if things are going OK. And at Wisconsin, I feel like things are going OK. Nowadays, of course, the manufacturer wants its stamp on the uniform, not just its logo.

And I don't want to see much of that. For the three sports I follow:

• Football: I know people struggle with the Nebraska look and the motion-W is not well liked here but I like the basic football look and would rather see it left alone. I think that look, which has essentially been a part of the football program since Alvarez made it relevant, will probably remain intact. Bonus points if they darken up the jerseys/pants to match the helmet decal. I predict an Adidas-like one-off vs. Maryland (anyone else in the B1G have UA)? And maybe something weird for a bowl.
• Hockey: Once again, the basic look is pretty intact. They kept the Reebok brand on hockey while the others used Adidas...big change was adding laces and removing superfluous double-outlining (which I liked a lot). Once again, I don't see a big change ahead given how long the diagonal "Wisconsin" has been around, but predict something outlandish for a couple of one-offs or any outdoor games they may play...Reebok did that as well.
• Basketball: This is the wild-card. Of the three sports, it's the uniform with the least tradition. It changes from time to time. The current uniform was actually decent if you ask me. But some of the Reebok-era uniforms were goofy. I suspect the big fat Adidas font is on the way out so I'm curious to see how the basketball team will look next year. I am a little nervous about a black alt or something else trying too hard.

Overall this may be no big deal; and could be a positive depending on basketball. However, right now, Wisconsin is doing well enough with its look that I'd have been content to just keep rolling with Adidas. Hopefully the athletic department holds strong and tries to keep its image, which includes not doing anything too outlandish.

[mjd77]

I don't really like this news. As someone who has no manufacturer loyalty, I tend to fear change if things are going OK. And at Wisconsin, I feel like things are going OK. Nowadays, of course, the manufacturer wants its stamp on the uniform, not just its logo.

And I don't want to see much of that. For the three sports I follow:

• Football: I know people struggle with the Nebraska look and the motion-W is not well liked here but I like the basic football look and would rather see it left alone. I think that look, which has essentially been a part of the football program since Alvarez made it relevant, will probably remain intact. Bonus points if they darken up the jerseys/pants to match the helmet decal. I predict an Adidas-like one-off vs. Maryland (anyone else in the B1G have UA)? And maybe something weird for a bowl.
• Hockey: Once again, the basic look is pretty intact. They kept the Reebok brand on hockey while the others used Adidas...big change was adding laces and removing superfluous double-outlining (which I liked a lot). Once again, I don't see a big change ahead given how long the diagonal "Wisconsin" has been around, but predict something outlandish for a couple of one-offs or any outdoor games they may play...Reebok did that as well.
• Basketball: This is the wild-card. Of the three sports, it's the uniform with the least tradition. It changes from time to time. The current uniform was actually decent if you ask me. But some of the Reebok-era uniforms were goofy. I suspect the big fat Adidas font is on the way out so I'm curious to see how the basketball team will look next year. I am a little nervous about a black alt or something else trying too hard.

Overall this may be no big deal; and could be a positive depending on basketball. However, right now, Wisconsin is doing well enough with its look that I'd have been content to just keep rolling with Adidas. Hopefully the athletic department holds strong and tries to keep its image, which includes not doing anything too outlandish.

Even if they would stay with Adidas I thought the basketball unis were due for a refresh. I think their current look was pretty stale, nevermind the awful tourney uniforms.

[razorback447]

Northwestern is Under Armour.

[Dynasty]

I don't mind this at all, to be honest.

Also, I'm not worried about an crazy uniform designs for Wisconsin because even though Maryland isn't a great example, just remember that Auburn uses Under Armour as well and I haven't seen any other uniforms for them. I know, I'm being very optimistic (possibly too optimistic?).

[Billy B]

As bad as Adidas is putting every teams in the same template, I thought it looked right most of the time for Wisconsin. I even liked their home uniforms for the tournament this year.

[CLEstones]

This may be ONE case where I hope the new manufacturer adds a non-school color. The B1G has a ton of red schools or schools with shades of red. I think the conference, and more specifically, the West division of the B1G, can benefit from Wisconsin changing their shade of red or white, or possibly even adding... dare I say... black/gray/tan.

[pepis21]

Even if they would stay with Adidas I thought the basketball unis were due for a refresh. I think their current look was pretty stale, nevermind the awful tourney uniforms.

.Honestly I like their uniforms from NCAA Tournament and I hoped they use it in next season as a regular unis.

[mbannon92]

Northwestern is Under Armour.

And Maryland is in the B1G.

[nicklas]

This may be ONE case where I hope the new manufacturer adds a non-school color. The B1G has a ton of red schools or schools with shades of red. I think the conference, and more specifically, the West division of the B1G, can benefit from Wisconsin changing their shade of red or white, or possibly even adding... dare I say... black/gray/tan.

I could see them doing that by borrowing the color from the academic crest.

[CLEstones]

This may be ONE case where I hope the new manufacturer adds a non-school color. The B1G has a ton of red schools or schools with shades of red. I think the conference, and more specifically, the West division of the B1G, can benefit from Wisconsin changing their shade of red or white, or possibly even adding... dare I say... black/gray/tan.

I could see them doing that by borrowing the color from the academic crest.

I think the tan would be a nice addition. It would differentiate from Minnesotta's golden color. Maryland has a similar yellow color. It would be nice if Nebraska could adopt more of a cream color, just to durther differentiate from Wisconsin's white.

I would assume they have to do SOMETHING. Having Nebraska and Wisonsin in the same division, with the same colors, and the same basic stripe pattern is aweful.

[MJWalker45]

I think fixing the stripes with the different template will help football stand out. I also think if they plan on keeping red helmets and black masks hey need to add black piping to the sleeve stripes and pant stripes.

[OnWis97]

This may be ONE case where I hope the new manufacturer adds a non-school color. The B1G has a ton of red schools or schools with shades of red. I think the conference, and more specifically, the West division of the B1G, can benefit from Wisconsin changing their shade of red or white, or possibly even adding... dare I say... black/gray/tan.

I could see them doing that by borrowing the color from the academic crest.

I think the tan would be a nice addition. It would differentiate from Minnesotta's golden color. Maryland has a similar yellow color. It would be nice if Nebraska could adopt more of a cream color, just to durther differentiate from Wisconsin's white.

I would assume they have to do SOMETHING. Having Nebraska and Wisonsin in the same division, with the same colors, and the same basic stripe pattern is aweful.

They don't have to do anything. Red is the school color. They don't need to add some non-school color just because Nebraska came to the Big Ten. It's not awful to have two red/white teams in the same conference or division.

Nor does Nebraska have to do anything different, as they are also a red/white school. It's college and I think it would be awesome if schools would just use their colors. That's what white uniforms are for.

About the only criticisms I can think of that Wisconsin could address are football-specific...they could do something about the two stripes on the sleeves* and darken up the rest of the uniform to match the darker red on the helmet decal.

*They don't have to do anything about the two stripes on the sleeves...they used variations of that before Alvarez arrived so it's not really true that it copied Nebraska.

I would take the following compromise: Wisconsin darkens its red. Nebraska goes to a single stripe on its pants (then both teams pants would match the helmet). But neither team needs non-school colors.

[OnWis97]

I think fixing the stripes with the different template will help football stand out. I also think if they plan on keeping red helmets and black masks hey need to add black piping to the sleeve stripes and pant stripes.

Stripes: I kinda like how the helmet, pants, sleeves all use the two stripes. However, I acknowledge that the thin sleeve stripes do not match the helmet/pants so I would be OK with a tweak there.

Black: No. Black is not a school color. I am not saying they won't increase the black trim, but they don't need to. There are hundreds of schools and some have the same colors.

Helmet: I don't think the white helmet is going anywhere because it's a staple of the team since it's been competitive. However, any red helmet sightings will probably be the one you reference, which is too bad because I like this one much better:

[Midway]

That's likely the best compromise, but I don't see Nebraska ever going with a single stripe on the pants.

[WSU151]

That's likely the best compromise, but I don't see Nebraska ever going with a single stripe on the pants.

They've already done it. Granted, the stripe was about three feet wide and lasted one or two seasons...

[TCutt]

I think that this is a good move for Wisconsin and a great move for Under Armour and all the other schools they sponsor. Under Armour is very good about respecting tradition, like in the case of Auburn, so the football uniforms will only change as much as Wisconsin wants them too. For basketball, I think it is not a bad thing for them. I like most of what Under Armour does for basketball rather than that weird "#MadeInMarch" set that all the Adidas schools wore this year and in years past. It'll be interesting to see what all happens with that though.