College Football Uniforms 2010-2011

[TornadoGTS]

A little Devil's advocate here...is green an official color of ND or is it navy/gold? You don't see green on the home or away set, yet you have a green alternate. People love the green and the look, yet if it's not on their current set (or maybe an official color, because I don't know) why is this acceptable, but black isn't when teams do it? Just curious. I think it looks good and fits the "Irish" nickname.

The original official colors of ND were Madonna Blue (similar to the Detroit Lions' blue) and Papal Gold, but they've never used them for athletics (Faust tried and failed). They now use navy and gold for everything academic, but I'm not sure whether they officially changed the school colors. So to answer your question, no, green is not an "official" color, but it is a traditional color, as they've used it for at least 80 years.

In regards to my reply, its part of there logo sheet/style guide, thats why I consider it an official color.

[tBBP]

I love the ND green unis!

As do I.

Pictures of BYU in blue jerseys and pants:

Looks okay I guess, not unlike the Jets in green jerseys and pants. I prefer the normal blue/white.

I don't mind it as an alternate look, which is what it is.

Same color jersey/pants just doesn't work with teams that have old school unis. So pretty much any team with stripes can't go monochrome without looking bad.

Completely disagree.

Meanwhile, I'm of the ilk that monochrome tops and bottoms of more traditional uniforms (see images above) make for a very nice alternate look (such as what Chawls mentioned). I know BYU has white socks...they probably should have worn those to balance it out with the white helmet. Even without it, though, this monochrome look works very well since the uniforms are only one color and white.

[WSU151]

I love the ND green unis!

As do I.

Pictures of BYU in blue jerseys and pants:

Looks okay I guess, not unlike the Jets in green jerseys and pants. I prefer the normal blue/white.

I don't mind it as an alternate look, which is what it is.

Same color jersey/pants just doesn't work with teams that have old school unis. So pretty much any team with stripes can't go monochrome without looking bad.

Completely disagree.

Meanwhile, I'm of the ilk that monochrome tops and bottoms of more traditional uniforms (see images above) make for a very nice alternate look (such as what Chawls mentioned). I know BYU has white socks...they probably should have worn those to balance it out with the white helmet. Even without it, though, this monochrome look works very well since the uniforms are only one color and white.

New Mexico's uniforms would look so much better if they had block numbers...and if they had real players wearing them.

[SteveR]

I think the Wounded Warrior look is a good one and it's good that it's contained to a once-per-year use.

Maryland's black helmet worked MUCH better in the overall look.

*note to Terps: that DOESN'T mean you need to go to a black helmet full-time!*

[Mingjai]

Meanwhile, I'm of the ilk that monochrome tops and bottoms of more traditional uniforms (see images above) make for a very nice alternate look (such as what Chawls mentioned). I know BYU has white socks...they probably should have worn those to balance it out with the white helmet. Even without it, though, this monochrome look works very well since the uniforms are only one color and white.

Good call on the socks. I've long thought that BYU has one of those looks that calls for striped socks, like the Colts, Jets, Bears, Chiefs, and Redskins. The real question is do the stripes match the jerseys and pants (3 stripes) or the helmet (2 stripes).

[tBBP]

Okay...I was going to wait until after the last week of the regular season to do this...but we're pretty much at it now, and have seen just about every college football uniform there is out there. And I didn't really see the point in creating a new thread for this, so without further ado, I present Buc's Top 10: the College Football Edition.

Of note, this list only deals with primary home/road looks...no alternates (a.k.a. the "specialized Pro Combats or the UA special editions). Now, before we get crackin', let's be real about one thing: top-anything lists are purely subjective in nature, no matter who's compiling them. Knowing that, and rather than just throw up a list of my ten favorite looks (because really, where's the fun in that?), I did what I could to throw a twist up into this...and actually inject a bit of a scientific formula. What follows is the process by which I compiled this list of mine.

Firstly...I pretty much ranked all uniforms in each conference according to which ones I liked best (purely subjective). I then took the eleven conference winners, and set metrics to them...six criteria by which I "graded" each and every FBS uniform out there (yeah, I actually went through all 120 of them). I'll get to those later, and as you'll soon see, once this was all sorted out, it didn't quite shake up the way I would have ranked them had I purely picked my favorites regardless of conference...and I think some of you might be surprised by where some of these (and possibly some of your favorites) ended up. So...all that having been said, here's how the conference rounds shook out.

SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE

This and the Big 10 probably boast the most time-honored looks. I fully respect that. This one was hard for me though. Of late, I've really grown fond of Kentucky's look, for whatever reason. Auburn's sets consistently rank among the tops of most people's lists. But, and only by a slim margin (it was the colors), my SEC winner is...

As I said, the colors won it for me...more visually appealing. The helmet lost points with me due to that tired-ass script...but the rest of the uniform is pure win. And this is one of the few uniforms in which the striping arrangement, or at least the colors of such, remain consistent across all elements--a lightning-rod topic around these points, for sure, but it won points in the "unique element" category. Add to that to this: I belive Minnesota is the only other school that uses that particular style of block number (pay attention to the "2").

BIG TEN

The Big T1e1n was kind of a hard one...by and by, this conference probably is the most traditional conference, top to bottom. Although I really nike Northwestern's look this year, the phot below illustrates my winner:

Yup...that's both Iowa and Ohio State. Lemme say this off top: NOBODY, but NOBODY does the color red (or, in this case, scarlet) better than the Ohio State Buckeyes. Far as I'm concerned, they own the color in college football. And that bright scarlet and gray/silver just work so well together. Having said that, I've long had an affinity for the color combo black and yellow, plus I love the Hawkeye logo (and Iowa's style of block numbers). In the end, though, I had to find some way to pick a winner between these two...and the team whose uniforms copy a certain NFL team was not it. Big 10 winner: Ohio State.

ACC

This is where my personal bias really shows up--but it ain't like y'all ain't see that one coming. I like Carolina's look because of the colors...but that half-stripe on the pants really kills it for me. Lately, I've really grown to like Boston College's identity, and it's because of their typography. I'm not one who minds italicized numbers and scripts, and these just work for some reason. And of course I got love for Clemson, being the fan of orange that I am. But, in the end...

Yeah, I'm biased...so what? Possibly the most unique helmets in college football today, and even though the rest of the uniform may well be plain-jane, it also works due to the colors. Then there's the collar and sleeve trim...perfect way to stick in some Native American influence without screaming it out. And of course, I like the Seminoles' jersey numbers. It all works together to create what I think is one of CFB's top looks.

BIG 12

Funny I follow the ACC up with this, because my long-time favorite college football uniform (though that may be about to change) comes from out of this conference. But they faced a stiff test...this year, Iowa State's look really shot to the top of my lists, and Kansas State's look is pure classic, the Big 12's answer to Ohio State. (And, of course, purple and silver look great together.) The Big 12 winner, and top fave of mine? The Missouri Tigers.

Know how you see something for the first time and, even though your attention gets swayed by something better-looking temporarily, you just keep going back to it? That's been the case with Mizzou ever since they adopted this set. True, it's been copied more times than it should have been, but I feel like Corn Flakes with this here...the original is still the best. I like the colors, and thus far, every combo they've worn (though the black-over-black is my favorite of them all).

BIG EAST

Next comes the conference of eclecticness (if that's a word). Whole lot of, well, "distinctive" looks here. For the longest time, I've favored West Virginia's look. Always found it genius hwo the jersey stripes/inserts/whatever-they-are resembled a letter "W". They probably do the best job of making navy and saffron look good together. And I love their numbers. However...last year, Nike revamped what already was probably the second-best modern look and actually made it look better...and it might have taken me all of two weeks to fall in love with it:

This ain't the best photo, but those uniforms are damn-near eyegasmic. This is a prefect example of how one-color-and-white is supposed to be done. And of the 4 or 5 schools that utilize the Armada-ish font, UConn does it the best. Love all their combos, as well.

PAC-10

Some good choices here, as well. As much as I want to like UCLA (there's your unique colors...and helmet script), I can't do it in current guise...maybe if they went back to the Cade McNown-era numerals, but with the current colors. Also, even as plain as it is, I've long liked Stanford's uniforms. But...the winner to me, in this category? (This one's gonna cause come grumbles...)

Yup...I've officially been turned. Very slowly, I've been getting suckered into what the Ducks have been doing. Helps that I love that shade of green. After seeing these things up close and in person some time ago, I grew to really like them. But it wasn't until they broke out the black/lightning/black look that I really realized I'd been suckered all the way in, and I've been hooked ever since. Still don't care for those weird numbers, but I love the wings. And they do have some pretty intersting combos..I'll say that. Definitely unique, that's for sure.

MOUNTAIN WEST

This conference really came down to one team. I really like Utah's use of (what appears to be) Univers, and adopting it as their "own"...the unis themselves, ehh, not really feeling them that much. So who came out of this conference?

At the end of the day (and even in the beginning of it), there is definitely room for a simple, classy look. BYU embodies this. I actually love the look, to be honest. Simple but beautiful.

WAC

There's a few decent looks in this conference...but none i would really call "great". As much as I want to like Boise State's look, I can't...there's just too much going on (shame, since both theirs and uConn's look as if they were developed around the same time). Nevada's look isn't bad, either..but it's a clone of Miami's sets from several years ago. Idaho's uniforms looks good to me based on how they utilize the gold (and silver) as trim. But in the end, one stood out:

Probably one of the more underrated looks in CFB...probably because hardly no one sees them. Damn near similar to the Florida Gators, but not quite. Safe, but solid look (and the helmet logo is kinda neat).

MAC:

You like quirks? You'll find a dark-horse candidate for Buc's Favorites here. I like Bowling Green's numbers, and of course they have one of the more unique color combos out there. But they didn't win this. Nope...another one-color-and-white team did. On the surface, the look might seem plain as hell...but it's the subtle quirks in this uniform that make it so damn cool to me. Which is it? This one...

Alright, I'll say it...the barber-pole pants stripes is what does it for me. And very subtly, that barber-pole design is almost mimicked on the collar trim (I'm a sucker for details like that). The helmet appears plain on its own, but with the rest of the uniform, it fits the semi-throwback look very well. And, it should be noted, the bevel-block numbers here really complete the old-school look here. One of my true favorites for its uniqueness...plus, they're just fun to look at.

CONFERENCE USA

Here's where things get interesting, and I bet my winner will surprise a lot of people. Rice's uniforms win with me simple due to the Old-English helmet "R" and chest script. Southern Miss has a good distinctive look, and of course, there's Tulane...one of the most unique color combos in all of sports, one of the better sets in the nation. So who won out of this conference? I bet none of y'all saw this one coming:

Okay, look, I got it...these things probably have no business being anywhere near any sane person's Top 10 list. So how'd they end up on mine? I'll try to explain the best I can...firstly, the colors. This isn't a grouping you see often...royal, gold and red. The swooshes reslly don't seem like they should go together, but in my eyes they work together better than some might realize, especially for a team named the Golden Hurricane. Then there's those numbers...I loved them with the old Oilers, I love them here..and they probably only look as good as they do because they're twill (which also helps boost a look's cause). All in all, this quirk-filled uniform is one I fell in love with long ago, probably during last year's GMAC Bowl. And, again..they're just fun to look at.

SUN BELT

The forgotten conference, mostly...but dig deep enough and you might find something you like. For me, it came down to two. I like the sword-like influence on the pants stripe of Troy State's uniforms. (And I don't care that it's "Troy" now...until the day I die, that place will ALWAYS be Troy State to me.) The helmet decal could probably use come cleaning up, but it works. (By the way, sacker12...nice work on these things!) But...my Sun Belt winner hails from south Florida:

Clicky

For such a young program, I really think they nailed it on the first go-round. This look has only been tweaked once, but it still works. not too fond of a mostly white logo on a white shell..but overall, the look works.

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So, after I sorted all those out, I then moved to the final round, where I set metrics to all this. I graded each uniform based on its own merits, against itself using the following criteria...without having a clue how the final standings would pan out

but I then assigned a point value to each, "4" being the highest, "1" being the lowest. Those six criteria are:

HELMET - graded as a stand-alone element, then with the rest of the uniform. My basic mode of evaluating points: "if this helmet was sitting on a table with ten others...what's the likelihood i would pick it up first?". Then, of course, does it work with the rest of the uniform?

COLOR USAGE - main thing I looked for here was color balance...how well they work together. Naturally, I assigned higher points to more unique color combinations, provided they worked well enough.

UNIQUE TYPOGRAPHY - by now most of you know how i am about this. I don't plain-out hate blocks, but in this modern age, this, probably more than anything else in my opinion, might be the easiest way to recognize what team you're looking at--especially amongst teams with similar colors. (Think Iowa State vs USC or Minnesota or something of the like.)

UNIQUE ELEMENTS - these are those little subtleties that one may not catch at first, but once seen, can really enhance the overall look. Think of Florida State's sleeve/collar trim design or Missouri's two-tone split/diagonal sleeve cuffs.

COHESIVENESS - how well do all those elements work together as a collective whole?

and finally...

WOULD I BUY? - pretty self-explanatory...basically, if I saw a jersey of the uniform hanging up in a sports store, would I drop coin on it? "4" = yes, "1" = no.

After it was all said and done, the final standings shook out as looks below...Buc's Final Top Ten(leven): College Football Edition. And as you can see...we have a tie up top.

TEAM NAME: HELMET / COLOR USAGE / UNIQUE TYPOGRAPHY / UNIQUE ELEMENTS / OVERALL COHESIVENESS / WOULD I BUY - TOTAL

FLORIDA STATE - 4 3 3 3 4 4 - 21

OREGON - 3 4 2 4 4 4 - 21

TEMPLE - 2 4 2 4 4 4 - 20

CONNECTICUT - 3 3 4 4 4 1 - 19

FLORIDA - 1 4 3 2 4 4 - 18

TULSA - 2 4 3 3 4 1

OHIO STATE - 1 4 1 1 4 4 - 15

MISSOURI - 2 4 1 3 3 1 - 14

LOUISIANA TECH - 3 3 2 1 3 1 - 13

FLORIDA ATLANTIC - 1 2 1 1 3 4 - 12

BRIGHAM YOUNG - 1 2 1 1 4 1 - 10

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So there you have it...my top (eleven) list, broken down semi-scientifically. And as you can see, the order came out a litte weird. Probably not coincidence my favorite team's up top...but look what else snuck up there as well. For the record, I believe Ohio State's look is better than Florida's...but the metrics are what they are.

Well...that concludes this episode of Buc's Top (Whatever). Be sure to tune in next month when I'll probably end up doing the same thing with the NFL.

[Lights Out]

I also like Louisiana Tech's look. Shocking because it's classic and all, but it really is one of the most underrated looks in college football.

[oddball]

Same color jersey/pants just doesn't work with teams that have old school unis. So pretty much any team with stripes can't go monochrome without looking bad. And good God (or whatever they believe in up in Utah) BYU, get the same stripe on your helmet, I hate when team's aren't consistent with their stripes.

If you're going to bring a statement up like that, well then do your research. http://www.onlineutah.com/churches.shtml As far as what "Mormons" believe, go here: http://www.mormon.org/ or here http://lds.org/topic/mormon/.

As far as stripes being consistant. Their stripes are consistant, it's replicating the middle stripes between the Northwestern stripes. As far as the all blue for BYU, I'd rather see them in the royal blue than the dark blue. Out of curiosity, who'd they wear the blue jersey and pants against last and does anyone have pictures of them?

[Mingjai]

Same color jersey/pants just doesn't work with teams that have old school unis. So pretty much any team with stripes can't go monochrome without looking bad. And good God (or whatever they believe in up in Utah) BYU, get the same stripe on your helmet, I hate when team's aren't consistent with their stripes.

If you're going to bring a statement up like that, well then do your research. http://www.onlineuta.../churches.shtml As far as what "Mormons" believe, go here: http://www.mormon.org/ or here http://lds.org/topic/mormon/.

As far as stripes being consistant. Their stripes are consistant, it's replicating the middle stripes between the Northwestern stripes. As far as the all blue for BYU, I'd rather see them in the royal blue than the dark blue. Out of curiosity, who'd they wear the blue jersey and pants against last and does anyone have pictures of them?

Since you ask... The last time BYU wore all blue would have been in 2004, when they had that Jets-style look for a single season:

From 2000-03, their primary look was all blue:

And in 1999, there were these monstrosities at home (but they weren't ALL blue):

The interesting thing is that during the LaVell Edwards era from 1972 on, the only time BYU work all blue uniforms was once or twice in1995. That was because their white pants didn't washed in time for a Thurs night ESPN game, so they had to wear all blue. The players liked them enough that I think they decided to wear them at least once more that year. They also wore all-white for the first time that year and once in 1996. Other than that, with the exception of 1999, BYU was a blue jersey/white pants or white jersey/blue pants for the entire LaVell Edwards era.

[oddball]

So they never wore the blue pants with white stripes with the blue jerseys? For as much as I've watched BYU since the mid 80's I should've remembered the royal blue combos. And yes, I was sorely disappointed with the bib jerseys, though I did like the Jets style.

[WSU151]

Hey Ming, do you know if BYU is going to stick with navy against Utah, or are they going to be wearing a road throwback with the royal blue this year against the Utes?

BTW - those unis that Sarkisian and Mili are wearing were awesome, even with the BFBS. Wish they stuck with the royal.

[Kevin W.]

According to a poster on another board:

This doesn't really concern uniforms for this season but Oklahoma State reportedly, signed a contract with Nike that will give them up to 40 different uniform combinations next season. I haven't found anything confirming this but a very reputable source has said that this is true. He also stated that we will see pearl white, flat black, and a lot of silver in the new jerseys. That's all he could reveal as of right now but if this is true, I'm not too sure what I think of it. I don't mind pearl white or flat black but I don't like the idea of having a lot of silver implemented.

[Red Wolf]

Sounds believable simply because of Nike's obsession with silver.

[ltjets21]

Best look Notre Dame ever had was in the Sugar Bowl during Jerome Bettis senior year, white jerseys with green numbers.

[mania]

Buc, you must really, really love mismatched golds. Missouri's template isn't bad, but the golds just absolutely :censored:ing kill it and make it not good at all, especially in a conference with Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas State, and Iowa State.

[Mingjai]

So they never wore the blue pants with white stripes with the blue jerseys? For as much as I've watched BYU since the mid 80's I should've remembered the royal blue combos. And yes, I was sorely disappointed with the bib jerseys, though I did like the Jets style.

I don't recall them ever wearing all blue (or all white) with striped pants. And yes, I liked the Jets-style but not in monochrome blue. It's a shame, because had they not played so bad in that style jersey, there might not have been such a big backlash. Here is the rest of the Jets look--

Hey Ming, do you know if BYU is going to stick with navy against Utah, or are they going to be wearing a road throwback with the royal blue this year against the Utes?

BTW - those unis that Sarkisian and Mili are wearing were awesome, even with the BFBS. Wish they stuck with the royal.

Word in the forums is that BYU is going to go all white for the Utah game in SLC. BYU-Utah should be a match-up where both schools should wear colored jerseys (they could specify one team must wear white pants, with the home team choosing).

Sarkisian and Mili (and Chad Lewis) were all seniors my sophomore year at BYU. I loved those jerseys--they added the black drop shadow for the bowl in '94 against OU in part because of favorite son Steve Young and the 49ers' success that same year. I guess you can say that at least BYU was on the leading edge of BFBS (until they jumped on the navy bandwagon!).

[guest23]

Same color jersey/pants just doesn't work with teams that have old school unis. So pretty much any team with stripes can't go monochrome without looking bad. And good God (or whatever they believe in up in Utah) BYU, get the same stripe on your helmet, I hate when team's aren't consistent with their stripes.

If you're going to bring a statement up like that, well then do your research. http://www.onlineuta.../churches.shtml As far as what "Mormons" believe, go here: http://www.mormon.org/ or here http://lds.org/topic/mormon/.

As far as stripes being consistant. Their stripes are consistant, it's replicating the middle stripes between the Northwestern stripes. As far as the all blue for BYU, I'd rather see them in the royal blue than the dark blue. Out of curiosity, who'd they wear the blue jersey and pants against last and does anyone have pictures of them?

Since you ask... The last time BYU wore all blue would have been in 2004, when they had that Jets-style look for a single season:

From 2000-03, their primary look was all blue:

And in 1999, there were these monstrosities at home (but they weren't ALL blue):

The interesting thing is that during the LaVell Edwards era from 1972 on, the only time BYU work all blue uniforms was once or twice in1995. That was because their white pants didn't washed in time for a Thurs night ESPN game, so they had to wear all blue. The players liked them enough that I think they decided to wear them at least once more that year. They also wore all-white for the first time that year and once in 1996. Other than that, with the exception of 1999, BYU was a blue jersey/white pants or white jersey/blue pants for the entire LaVell Edwards era.

while not traditional byu per se...the 00-03 set I think was one of the best modern uniform designs of all time...it would still look good now.

[Lights Out]

Count me in as another fan of the Jets look for BYU. Also liked the color scheme they used from '99 until they brought back the classic set.

[KJTALBOT]

I dislike the current Notre Dame green jerseys. They need to be KELLY green.

[BigShoop]

BIG EAST

Next comes the conference of eclecticness (if that's a word). Whole lot of, well, "distinctive" looks here. For the longest time, I've favored West Virginia's look. Always found it genius hwo the jersey stripes/inserts/whatever-they-are resembled a letter "W". They probably do the best job of making navy and saffron look good together. And I love their numbers. However...last year, Nike revamped what already was probably the second-best modern look and actually made it look better...and it might have taken me all of two weeks to fall in love with it:

This ain't the best photo, but those uniforms are damn-near eyegasmic. This is a prefect example of how one-color-and-white is supposed to be done. And of the 4 or 5 schools that utilize the Armada-ish font, UConn does it the best. Love all their combos, as well.

Just curious, where would USF rank in the Big East if their helmets didn't completely ruin the set? Based on your opinions on other "unique" aspects of number fonts and small details, I would think pretty high...no?