College Football 2013 Season

[guest23]

I agree oldschool. Seems to me that schools are more willing to part with tradition just to satisfy the current flash-in-the-pan trend that'll be gone In a month. Too much of this is gimmicky garbage with no real purpose of driving the school's athletic department but rather the manufacturer. Gone are the days when Notre Dame coming out in green MEANT something. Now it's just a supplier stunt that is hyped up weeks in advance to drive attention and boost merchandising sales.

As for the new adidas template (and to the poster who said it's barely noticeable in real life), it looks like junk. Those sublimated patterns are WAY too exposed and visible. You can clearly see them even in the non-promotional shots. Nor does it solve the problem of applying sleeve striping or shoulder loops. In my opinion, every TechFit jersey has been nearly the same as far as functionality and appearance, save for the swooping mesh panels and the way they are positioned. Adidas just needs to take a season or two off and stop pumping out these useless "upgrades." Come back when you've done something that actually solves the problem (for which you've been publicly called out about).

That's one side of the argument. The other is that young kids enjoy wearing something flashy and these types of "stunts" can attract recruits.

I'm a traditionalist, but if wearing a one-off uniform each season helps us sign 5 more blue chip kids out of high school, I support it. I'm also biased, but I think this latest Husker uniform doesn't get too far away from our classic look, either. It's basically our exact same uniform set, but they've tweaked the color scheme slightly and changed the number font.

That's a far cry from the schlock that Maryland churns out every few months.

The problem for me here is which side is the tail wagging the dog. It's no longer Wisconsin adding a rose to the helmet logo just because they made it to Pasadena. Now it's Wisconsin adding a rose to the helmet logo because they are part of a manufacturer program outfitting numerous teams designed to attract attention to the supplier.

The problem with the "recruits love the gear" argument is that every school is in the game. Now the special equipment is a "must-have" feature just to remain competitive. Having the cool gear no longer provides any extra value to recruits because everyone else has similar offerings. UCLA, USC, Arizona State, Oregon, Cal, etc. all could recruit the same player. Not a SINGLE school can flaunt their gear because every single one of them offers flashy gloves, shoes, newly released uniforms with technologically advanced fabrics, custom designs, etc.

It's almost as if a cell phone manufacturer tried to impress you with their hi-res camera, social media apps, access to email, and fast network connections. All of those features weren't commonplace in the market less than a decade ago but are now the standard for smartphones. They are nice features to have but they no longer make your product special. The same thing goes with the current uniform trend.

You pretty much nailed it. All of the one-off crazy alt's do at this point is allow the manufacturers/suppliers to unload more gear. Now that every single program has access to the same templated designs and customizable gear the competitive advantage is essentially a wash.

So overall this has been a huge win for the suppliers as the programs now need more product more often to stay in the competitive mix. For the football programs themselves, it appears to be settling for a stalemate.

[BrandMooreArt]

This is why the new Techfit Jerseys have those weird scratches / lines "adidas’ TECHFIT ShockWeb technology, designed to keep players fast, cool and mobile onfield. adidas ShockWeb features engineered body mapping, which maximizes compression zones across the chest and sides, in a lightweight knit structure that provides a tight fit with enhanced range of motion. Integrated CLIMACOOL mesh zones create airflow to keep players cool in every temperature."

i have no doubt that it does just that, but what bothers me is, like Nike's Flywire, it may be designed to be noticed

[rams80]

I agree oldschool. Seems to me that schools are more willing to part with tradition just to satisfy the current flash-in-the-pan trend that'll be gone In a month. Too much of this is gimmicky garbage with no real purpose of driving the school's athletic department but rather the manufacturer. Gone are the days when Notre Dame coming out in green MEANT something. Now it's just a supplier stunt that is hyped up weeks in advance to drive attention and boost merchandising sales.

As for the new adidas template (and to the poster who said it's barely noticeable in real life), it looks like junk. Those sublimated patterns are WAY too exposed and visible. You can clearly see them even in the non-promotional shots. Nor does it solve the problem of applying sleeve striping or shoulder loops. In my opinion, every TechFit jersey has been nearly the same as far as functionality and appearance, save for the swooping mesh panels and the way they are positioned. Adidas just needs to take a season or two off and stop pumping out these useless "upgrades." Come back when you've done something that actually solves the problem (for which you've been publicly called out about).

That's one side of the argument. The other is that young kids enjoy wearing something flashy and these types of "stunts" can attract recruits.

I'm a traditionalist, but if wearing a one-off uniform each season helps us sign 5 more blue chip kids out of high school, I support it. I'm also biased, but I think this latest Husker uniform doesn't get too far away from our classic look, either. It's basically our exact same uniform set, but they've tweaked the color scheme slightly and changed the number font.

That's a far cry from the schlock that Maryland churns out every few months.

The problem for me here is which side is the tail wagging the dog. It's no longer Wisconsin adding a rose to the helmet logo just because they made it to Pasadena. Now it's Wisconsin adding a rose to the helmet logo because they are part of a manufacturer program outfitting numerous teams designed to attract attention to the supplier.

The problem with the "recruits love the gear" argument is that every school is in the game. Now the special equipment is a "must-have" feature just to remain competitive. Having the cool gear no longer provides any extra value to recruits because everyone else has similar offerings. UCLA, USC, Arizona State, Oregon, Cal, etc. all could recruit the same player. Not a SINGLE school can flaunt their gear because every single one of them offers flashy gloves, shoes, newly released uniforms with technologically advanced fabrics, custom designs, etc.

It's almost as if a cell phone manufacturer tried to impress you with their hi-res camera, social media apps, access to email, and fast network connections. All of those features weren't commonplace in the market less than a decade ago but are now the standard for smartphones. They are nice features to have but they no longer make your product special. The same thing goes with the current uniform trend.

Meanwhile just about all of these programs still suck on the teat of student body subsidies (even if they don't need to). Woo supporting multinational textile corporations with your student loan money.

[RyanMcD29]

Yeah, college football uniforms have gone overboard. But then again my alma mater only wears Orange/Navy/Orange or Orange/White/Orange every week and I'm at the point where I'm dying to see them wear, idk, Navy/Orange/Navy or even White pants at this point after spending my entire 4 years of seeing 2 combos (maybe with the rare White pants once a season my freshman-junior years)

See everyone, you should totally be on the Syracuse bandwagon Besides, if Nike messes up our uniforms with highly hyped releases, it's lacrosse instead of football!

[mstein]

Apologize if this has already been posted. A lot of the pictures won't show up when I'm here at work...

The only thing that really bugs me about that jersey are the "UCLA" stripes.

What IS that stupid pattern?

From what I can tell it would appear that on the shoulders is a basketball net, since that's UCLA's only successful sports team

Yep, all 108 NCAA team titles must be in basketball....

[razorback447]

Yeah, college football uniforms have gone overboard. But then again my alma mater only wears Orange/Navy/Orange or Orange/White/Orange every week and I'm at the point where I'm dying to see them wear, idk, Navy/Orange/Navy or even White pants at this point after spending my entire 4 years of seeing 2 combos (maybe with the rare White pants once a season my freshman-junior years)

See everyone, you should totally be on the Syracuse bandwagon Besides, if Nike messes up our uniforms with highly hyped releases, it's lacrosse instead of football!

[pianoknight]

This is why the new Techfit Jerseys have those weird scratches / lines "adidas’ TECHFIT ShockWeb technology, designed to keep players fast, cool and mobile onfield. adidas ShockWeb features engineered body mapping, which maximizes compression zones across the chest and sides, in a lightweight knit structure that provides a tight fit with enhanced range of motion. Integrated CLIMACOOL mesh zones create airflow to keep players cool in every temperature."

i have no doubt that it does just that, but what bothers me is, like Nike's Flywire, it may be designed to be noticed

+1.

If this technology catches on, then my hunch is that adidas will make the Shock Webs very noticeable, just like Nike's Flywire stood out. Then, in a couple seasons they'll release designs that are much more subtle since everyone will have caught on to the tech by then.

[RyanMcD29]

Yeah, college football uniforms have gone overboard. But then again my alma mater only wears Orange/Navy/Orange or Orange/White/Orange every week and I'm at the point where I'm dying to see them wear, idk, Navy/Orange/Navy or even White pants at this point after spending my entire 4 years of seeing 2 combos (maybe with the rare White pants once a season my freshman-junior years)

See everyone, you should totally be on the Syracuse bandwagon Besides, if Nike messes up our uniforms with highly hyped releases, it's lacrosse instead of football!

To be fair that was before my time there so I didn't have to burn my eyeballs out

[spottedbadger]

Can we talk about this :censored:ing facemask for a second! Not only does it feature my least favorite trend with the multi-colored facemask, but it fades from a glossy red to a MATTE black. Who thought that was a good idea?! There is just zero continuity in that helmet. Why have a black matte facemask if the black helmet stripe is glossy?

I don't mind the uniform and I actually dig the color scheme, but jesus do I hate that facemask.

[hbgoo1975]

The two-tone mask has to go. It should've been either shiny black or red.

[IceCap]

Et tu, Nebraska?

[Red Wolf]

Can we talk about this :censored:ing facemask for a second! Not only does it feature my least favorite trend with the multi-colored facemask, but it fades from a glossy red to a MATTE black. Who thought that was a good idea?! There is just zero continuity in that helmet. Why have a black matte facemask if the black helmet stripe is glossy?

I don't mind the uniform and I actually dig the color scheme, but jesus do I hate that facemask.

At the very least, the center of the mask should have been black with the outer part being red. It would have been dumb still, but slightly less so.

[Midway]

I'm all for change and football uniforms progressing with the times. But I'm not for garbage.

Adidas must be stopped.

[Brave-Bird 08]

Only two-tone facemask that has looked good is Oregon's. And yes...I understand one is in my avatar...

[pianoknight]

Yeah, the two-tone face mask bothers me a bit in the promo shots, but I think it will look different on the field.

I agree that it would have been better if the whole thing was matte or shiny, not both.

[Kevin W.]

I'm all for change and football uniforms progressing with the times. But I'm not for garbage.

Adidas All of the manufacturers must be stopped.

Fixed. Adidas has put out plenty of stinkers but let's not forget that Nike's record is far from spotless, and Under Armour is worse.

[BrandMooreArt]

Can we talk about this :censored:ing facemask for a second! Not only does it feature my least favorite trend with the multi-colored facemask, but it fades from a glossy red to a MATTE black. Who thought that was a good idea?! There is just zero continuity in that helmet. Why have a black matte facemask if the black helmet stripe is glossy?

I don't mind the uniform and I actually dig the color scheme, but jesus do I hate that facemask.

At the very least, the center of the mask should have been black with the outer part being red. It would have been dumb still, but slightly less so.

almost everyone (schools and manufacturers) in the game has the right idea. tweak the trend, make it different; make it your own. the problem is that its done with such poor taste. this face mask is a perfect example. it's easy to see how they arrived here given whats come before it, and it reminds me of Seth Godin's blog post yesterday, the difference between different and remarkable: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2013/06/different-or-remarkable.html

this face mask, to the Nebraska/adidas audience is remarkable. people are talking about it. it's interesting to them. and it's got our attention, but for the wrong reason. i dont believe "any publicity is good publicity". its only good when people like you and want to buy/use your product, not when they think its . this mask is by far the worst piece of the uniform. it dosnt fit in with the rest of what going on with thew the helmet, jersey, pants, socks. thats 50% of what makes it such a bad element. the other 50% is that its just :censored:ing ugly, i mean, a gloss red to matte black gradient? GTFO! and why even call attention to a face mask? c'mon man

its hard to say if it was HGI, adidas, or Nebraska who created/wanted this, but if it were adidas, they should have saved this technique for another design that it actually works with. but, ofcourse Nebraska is one of their flagship schools, and its easy to see that this is where they want to showcase their "best" work.

if the face mask were solid red or black, it would be completely likable. and on brand for Nebraska, which is probably the most disappointing thing about it. they have a strong identity foundation which allows them to do other unique alternates to keep everything from being stale, but this kind of thing isnt it. should they have adidas' latest technology? yes. should they be at the front of design trends? no thats not who they are.

and personally, i would have made the N's all black and the stripe and face mask red. that way all the major elements in the uniform are black/white with the trim pieces in red

[BrandMooreArt]

I'm all for change and football uniforms progressing with the times. But I'm not for garbage.

Adidas All of the manufacturers must be stopped.

Fixed. Adidas has put out plenty of stinkers but let's not forget that Nike's record is far from spotless, and Under Armour is worse.

thats right, i've looked at and critiqued every major piece for 3 years now. theres not much difference between those 3 companies. adidas has actually been my favorite comparing their "A's" with Nike's but pretty even on the grades/critiques ive given them. Russell isnt even in the conversation

but the blame for the bad designs cant be only placed on the manufacturers. some of it has to fall on the schools themselves

[tajmccall]

Meh, i'm glad College is the testing grounds for new (usually ugly) 'innovations' rather than the pros. If upstarts want to garner attention via uniforms, hell it gives us something to talk/bitch about.

[Chawls]

Whatever happened to Reebok making football uniforms?