White is the new Black

[JPDesign]

While BFBS is still highly prevalent amongst college football teams, I've noticed more and more white being employed by teams unlike ever before.

While it's hard to argue White for White's sake since almost every team uses white in their scheme, it seems like every big road game is being played in a stormtrooper look. Turn on the SEC game of the week and you'll see color vs. all-white. Some teams have gone stormtrooper on the road before it was cool (Texas, Auburn, etc...) but it's become the new norm.

As an OU fan, every team that's come to Norman has worn a white helmet. (ULM, Tulsa, WVU, TCU and TTU today). Only one of those teams had a white helmet a few years ago. While it's more tolerable than BFBS, it's beginning to make games look bland.

I'm all in favor, as I think most of CCSLC would be, in a soccer-like clash uniform system. I'd love to see OU-TTU today be Crimson vs. Black. Or Oregon's Green vs. UCLA's Powder Blue tonight. (If Oregon would ever wear green...or Adidas could actually produce a powder blue uniform...)

I'm sure this isn't a revolutionary thought, but just something that's been on my mind this morning.

[Kg54mvp]

I would love that idea, that's all I do when I play NCAA 14! Because both teams get to show their primary look, which in alot of cases looks stronger than some away sets. This would be great especially for the prime time games.

[MJWalker45]

I would love that idea, that's all I do when I play NCAA 14! Because both teams get to show their primary look, which in alot of cases looks stronger than some away sets. This would be great especially for the prime time games.

you're talking about clashing helmets right? I don't think I can have both teams wearing dark jerseys.

[dolfan13]

While BFBS is still highly prevalent amongst college football teams, I've noticed more and more white being employed by teams unlike ever before.

While it's hard to argue White for White's sake since almost every team uses white in their scheme, it seems like every big road game is being played in a stormtrooper look. Turn on the SEC game of the week and you'll see color vs. all-white. Some teams have gone stormtrooper on the road before it was cool (Texas, Auburn, etc...) but it's become the new norm.

As an OU fan, every team that's come to Norman has worn a white helmet. (ULM, Tulsa, WVU, TCU and TTU today). Only one of those teams had a white helmet a few years ago. While it's more tolerable than BFBS, it's beginning to make games look bland.

I'm all in favor, as I think most of CCSLC would be, in a soccer-like clash uniform system. I'd love to see OU-TTU today be Crimson vs. Black. Or Oregon's Green vs. UCLA's Powder Blue tonight. (If Oregon would ever wear green...or Adidas could actually produce a powder blue uniform...)

I'm sure this isn't a revolutionary thought, but just something that's been on my mind this morning.

Huh? TTU wore grey.

Isn't it standard in North American sports for home teams to wear home colors and road teams to wear white though?

[Raymie]

It's gotten to the point where I know of a bunch of schools with white alternate helmets just for that reason in Arizona (Chaparral, Cienega, Marana Mountain View, North Canyon, Sabino, Salpointe Catholic and Valley Christian). In fact, there have been a couple cases where I've thought that a school might be going with multiple helmets just because I see them go from a colored helmet to white in the first week—and they still just had one helmet.

Of those, Chaparral, Cienega and Valley Christian each have three helmet options this year (the latter two are expanded for this year). That's a lot of helmet options. Chaparral has matte black, red (traditional) and white. Cienega has navy blue (which was introduced in 2011), copper (traditional) and now white. Valley Christian just added white but since 2012 they've had a dark gray helmet and a black one. (The school colors? Silver and royal blue. They haven't had a silver helmet since 2000 — thanks black helmet — but they did have white as their first helmet in the late '80s and early '90s.)

[gdu]

TCU wore a silver helmet that fades from black at bottom to nearly white on top. Texas Tech wore a gray helmet.

[TheOldRoman]

I'm all in favor, as I think most of CCSLC would be, in a soccer-like clash uniform system.

I'd say that's pretty presumptuous. That idea gets peddled every so often, along with insane suggestions about making tiered leagues with promotions and relegations. However, I would venture to guess that most people would not prefer that. If that's the aesthetics of soccer, that's fine for them, but it looks crappy and unprofessional on American sports teams not playing soccer.

[shaydre1019]

I'm all in favor, as I think most of CCSLC would be, in a soccer-like clash uniform system.

I'd say that's pretty presumptuous. That idea gets peddled every so often, along with insane suggestions about making tiered leagues with promotions and relegations. However, I would venture to guess that most people would not prefer that. If that's the aesthetics of soccer, that's fine for them, but it looks crappy and unprofessional on American sports teams not playing soccer.

What looks unprofessional about it?

I think if they clash enough there's no reason not to.

Whenever it does happen I think it looks great. It's never a problem with the lakers.

[JPDesign]

Well, TTU went gray on me. I wrote the original post after the TTU Equipment twitter posted, "There may be an ICEY WHITE storm hitting the field today." so I assumed that meant white-out.

As for TCU, yes it's got the gradient and frogskin, but in the grand scheme of things I consider that a white helmet.

...However, I would venture to guess that most people would not prefer that. If that's the aesthetics of soccer, that's fine for them, but it looks crappy and unprofessional on American sports teams not playing soccer.

How could you not be in favor of this becoming the norm?

[TheOldRoman]

^ Because I much prefer teams wearing a white jersey to distinguish between them. Look, you can make out the color differences between the two teams, but it's not as stark a difference as when one's wearing a white jersey. And it looks unprofessional because it's like a little league team which has one set of jerseys which it wears for every game, where each team in the region has a different primary color because of it. It's "professional" to have a different road uniform.

[gdu]

As for TCU, yes it's got the gradient and frogskin, but in the grand scheme of things I consider that a white helmet.

[nuordr]

While BFBS is still highly prevalent amongst college football teams, I've noticed more and more white being employed by teams unlike ever before.

While it's hard to argue White for White's sake since almost every team uses white in their scheme, it seems like every big road game is being played in a stormtrooper look. Turn on the SEC game of the week and you'll see color vs. all-white. Some teams have gone stormtrooper on the road before it was cool (Texas, Auburn, etc...) but it's become the new norm.

As an OU fan, every team that's come to Norman has worn a white helmet. (ULM, Tulsa, WVU, TCU and TTU today). Only one of those teams had a white helmet a few years ago. While it's more tolerable than BFBS, it's beginning to make games look bland.

I'm all in favor, as I think most of CCSLC would be, in a soccer-like clash uniform system. I'd love to see OU-TTU today be Crimson vs. Black. Or Oregon's Green vs. UCLA's Powder Blue tonight. (If Oregon would ever wear green...or Adidas could actually produce a powder blue uniform...)

I'm sure this isn't a revolutionary thought, but just something that's been on my mind this morning.

You mentioned the SEC in your initial post and I want to clarify that traditionally the teams that have always wore white are Tennessee, Auburn, South Carolina, and Kentucky. Since I am an SEC nut, I don't see all-white vs color every week like you mentioned.

Kentucky - blue was the primary helmet in 62-69, 2001-2010, white became an additional option in 2011.

Tennessee - have only ever used a white helmet

Auburn - have worn a white helmet all but 2 years of their existence (51-52')

South Carolina - historically they have worn a white helmet except for these years: 64-65, 83-88, 89-98, 2004

Alabama - only used a white helmet as primary for 12 years, have not wore one since 1984

Vanderbilt - only used a white helmet as primary for 3 years, the last two years as been and option

Florida - only used a white helmet as a primary for these years: 46-54, 55-60, 66-68 and used one as a pro combat in 2006.

Georgia - never wore a white helmet

Arkansas - wore a white helmet as a primary between 46-50 and added the secondary option in 2012 - typically uses the red helmet.

LSU - Have only wore a white helmet for two games; one in 1997 and the other in 2011

Ole Miss - never wore a white helmet

Miss. State - only wore a white helmet as a primary in these years: 50-62, 66-72, 2000-2008, and added an alternate in 2012.

Missouri - never wore a white helmet

Texas A&M - Added a white helmet as an alternate in 2012.

[JPDesign]

As for TCU, yes it's got the gradient and frogskin, but in the grand scheme of things I consider that a white helmet.

From a distance it looks mostly white.

[JPDesign]

While BFBS is still highly prevalent amongst college football teams, I've noticed more and more white being employed by teams unlike ever before.

While it's hard to argue White for White's sake since almost every team uses white in their scheme, it seems like every big road game is being played in a stormtrooper look. Turn on the SEC game of the week and you'll see color vs. all-white. Some teams have gone stormtrooper on the road before it was cool (Texas, Auburn, etc...) but it's become the new norm.

As an OU fan, every team that's come to Norman has worn a white helmet. (ULM, Tulsa, WVU, TCU and TTU today). Only one of those teams had a white helmet a few years ago. While it's more tolerable than BFBS, it's beginning to make games look bland.

I'm all in favor, as I think most of CCSLC would be, in a soccer-like clash uniform system. I'd love to see OU-TTU today be Crimson vs. Black. Or Oregon's Green vs. UCLA's Powder Blue tonight. (If Oregon would ever wear green...or Adidas could actually produce a powder blue uniform...)

I'm sure this isn't a revolutionary thought, but just something that's been on my mind this morning.

You mentioned the SEC in your initial post and I want to clarify that traditionally the teams that have always wore white are Tennessee, Auburn, South Carolina, and Kentucky. Since I am an SEC nut, I don't see all-white vs color every week like you mentioned.

Kentucky - blue was the primary helmet in 62-69, 2001-2010, white became an additional option in 2011.

Tennessee - have only ever used a white helmet

Auburn - have worn a white helmet all but 2 years of their existence (51-52')

South Carolina - historically they have worn a white helmet except for these years: 64-65, 83-88, 89-98, 2004

Alabama - only used a white helmet as primary for 12 years, have not wore one since 1984

Vanderbilt - only used a white helmet as primary for 3 years, the last two years as been and option

Florida - only used a white helmet as a primary for these years: 46-54, 55-60, 66-68 and used one as a pro combat in 2006.

Georgia - never wore a white helmet

Arkansas - wore a white helmet as a primary between 46-50 and added the secondary option in 2012 - typically uses the red helmet.

LSU - Have only wore a white helmet for two games; one in 1997 and the other in 2011

Ole Miss - never wore a white helmet

Miss. State - only wore a white helmet as a primary in these years: 50-62, 66-72, 2000-2008, and added an alternate in 2012.

Missouri - never wore a white helmet

Texas A&M - Added a white helmet as an alternate in 2012.

Full stormtrooper is less prevalent, but white over white seems to pop-up more often than say, five years ago.

Texas A&M seems to want to go white on white for every big game. As do many teams that play A&M. I'll happily admit that I'm not an SEC nut, but the big games on TV this year have featured a lot of white on white teams.

[shaydre1019]

I thought Kentucky was one of the first teams to regularly have 2 helmets. Didn't they have a white option for most of the 2000's?

[mjd77]

If there is such a thing, I guess I'd rather see WFWS than BFBS.

[powersurge]

If there is such a thing, I guess I'd rather see WFWS than BFBS.

I guess I would too.

BFBS is much worse than WFWS (if there were such a thing) I personally don't think they would be even close to being similar. I have no problem with teams utilizing an all white look; it doesn't seem that far outside of the box for me. Just about every team would look acceptable in all white, whereas very few would look good in all black. Just my opinion, maybe others feel differently.

[mjd77]

If there is such a thing, I guess I'd rather see WFWS than BFBS.

I guess I would too.

BFBS is much worse than WFWS (if there were such a thing) I personally don't think they would be even close to being similar. I have no problem with teams utilizing an all white look; it doesn't seem that far outside of the box for me. Just about every team would look acceptable in all white, whereas very few would look good in all black. Just my opinion, maybe others feel differently.

I agree...I'm ok with WFWS since technically most teams have white as part of their identity in the form of a white road uniform (or home in some cases). If they want to add a white alternate helmet or pants that they might not have had before, I'm ok with it and I'm generally ok with the stormtrooper look.

[Xist2inspire]

If that's the aesthetics of soccer, that's fine for them, but it looks crappy and unprofessional on American sports teams not playing soccer.

Honestly, one of the reasons why I think football (soccer) teams have such strong identities and followings is the fact that they only have one primary look. Whether they're on the road or at home, they will usually look the same, and that helps to create a strong, definitive identity. That's what I like about the "clash" system, it makes it easier to create and maintain a clear image for your team in my opinion.

.....but then again, I always did think of most white jerseys as boring, colorless, unnecessary pieces of garbage as a kid.

[TheOldRoman]

If that's the aesthetics of soccer, that's fine for them, but it looks crappy and unprofessional on American sports teams not playing soccer.

Honestly, one of the reasons why I think football (soccer) teams have such strong identities and followings is the fact that they only have one primary look. Whether they're on the road or at home, they will usually look the same, and that helps to create a strong, definitive identity. That's what I like about the "clash" system, it makes it easier to create and maintain a clear image for your team in my opinion.

.....but then again, I always did think of most white jerseys as boring, colorless, unnecessary pieces of garbage as a kid.

Yeah, sorry. I don't see teams which drastically change uniforms every year (within the same color pallette) having strong identities. I admittedly don't follow soccer, but I can't see how that is the case, and I especially can't see that contributing to teams' popularities.