College Football 2014 Season

[Cosmic]

^ Yeah, that's a whole lot of nonsense.

"Their identity is consistent... consistently different" sounds like a joke someone would make at Oregon's expense, not a straight-faced argument in their favor.

[Captain Poncho]

^ Yeah, that's a whole lot of nonsense.

Great retort.

While I don't particularly like Oregon's unis, especially the lack of school/any real color, this fits their brand. It does not appeal to me as a sports fan, but I understand it as a designer. The fact that it seems to resonate with their target audience and even with the school itself means they're not totally off the reservation.

Brandon is spot on in his analysis.

[WSU151]

the white and gray Oregon uniform is a great option for them. if you think they should wear something they've worn before, you don't know their primary uniform direction; dont wear the same thing twice (this includes socks, cleats, gloves, combos). there is no reason for them to wear their school colors every week and especially not for this game (its a special occasion; dress up). the Oregon football program has it's own palette (greens and yellows which are variations of school Pantone swatches) and they are always recognizable. no one will confuse them for anyone else and just because they're wearing gray pants doesnt mean they "look like OSU". c'mon, now.

Oregon football has one of the strongest brands in CFB because their identity is consistent (consistently different in color combos while sticking to the same palette and the shapes in the uni never change) and they do what they preach which is variations of "blaze your own path", "do things better", and it's sold with phrases like "tradition never changes, champions do".

Oregon/Nike doesnt care what a school "should" do. they're here now because they dared to be different and create a new niche. Chip Kelly has the same approach to the game, and they're just caring on those philosophies. instead of criticizing Oregon for what they've done and what you think they should do, you should sit back and watch the show, learn from it, because this is branding at it's finest.

Yeah but they could do that all that while incorporating an amount of green and/or gold. The football team is fully aligned with the school...if they were an independent semi-pro team, then your analysis would be spot on. But there really is no reason to wear gray, white, and black.

And the thing is...all of their winged helmets and jerseys look stunning in green and gold...when they go school colors, they are my favorite college football uniforms...and when they add in a tiny bit of metallic silver and black to accent the green and gold, it's awesome.

[shstpt1]

As much as I love Oregon and their decision to push the envelope with their uniforms/combos, and I don't believe that this is by far the best option for them for this game, some of you act like you are so surprised for the reveal. I figured that when the photos were released a few weeks ago, that somehow they would utilize the whites. The benefit from the EQ managers is that they don't have to spend extra time taking off Rose/Sugar bowl patches to have to put the new championship patch on. With the white jerseys as they are, yellow and green pants would look a tad out of place with the lack of either in the jersey or helmet, so the only option left is grey, white, black pants. Stormtrooper would be okay, W/W/B would be ehh... but with the color balance of the jersey, they grey may be the best option with the cards they were dealt.

And enough with the Volt talk... that was 4 years ago, and only worn twice.

[guest23]

the white and gray Oregon uniform is a great option for them. if you think they should wear something they've worn before, you don't know their primary uniform direction; dont wear the same thing twice (this includes socks, cleats, gloves, combos). there is no reason for them to wear their school colors every week and especially not for this game (its a special occasion; dress up). the Oregon football program has it's own palette (greens and yellows which are variations of school Pantone swatches) and they are always recognizable. no one will confuse them for anyone else and just because they're wearing gray pants doesnt mean they "look like OSU". c'mon, now.

Oregon football has one of the strongest brands in CFB because their identity is consistent (consistently different in color combos while sticking to the same palette and the shapes in the uni never change) and they do what they preach which is variations of "blaze your own path", "do things better", and it's sold with phrases like "tradition never changes, champions do".

Oregon/Nike doesnt care what a school "should" do. they're here now because they dared to be different and create a new niche. Chip Kelly has the same approach to the game, and they're just caring on those philosophies. instead of criticizing Oregon for what they've done and what you think they should do, you should sit back and watch the show, learn from it, because this is branding at it's finest.

Branding at it's finest is having your fans in the stands, sideline staff/coaches etc, and players all wearing scarlet & gray. Not to mention getting to wear your home uniform because your uniform supplier is forcing the higher seed into wearing a bland silver/white combo to push merchandise sales.

[Cosmic]

Well there we go.

Nike announces a partnership with Magic: The Gathering

[Sport]

I'm going to argue that for a special game, a game that will be replayed for years, that this shouldn't be the time to dress up. It is possible for them to wear school colors and also wear some state of the art new uniforms. It doesn't have to be completely devoid of color.

This will be the finest athletic moment in school history and they won't be wearing their colors. Every time the photos and videos are shown they'll be in white and gray, not green and yellow. You don't see the problem with that? Don't feed me some garbage about how "their brand is they have no brand", not wearing your school colors for what could be your first national championship is really dumb.

You want to experiment with gray scale? Do it against Colorado or UCLA, but in your biggest game ever, look like yourself.

[colinturner95]

I don't hate the uniform, but was something similar to this so hard to do?

These with kelly green pants would've been perfect.

Here's a one team-color option or even a, wait for it, two team color options that would look better than what their going to wear

[DPV713]

My only gripe with Oregon (and now that I think of it, it may just be the picture) is that their pants look like a darker gray than OSU's.

[Cosmic]

I'm going to argue that for a special game, a game that will be replayed for years, that this shouldn't be the time to dress up. It is possible for them to wear school colors and also wear some state of the art new uniforms. It doesn't have to be completely devoid of color.

This will be the finest athletic moment in school history and they won't be wearing their colors.

It's pretty amazing that Nike will do all of this amazing BS about representing the "jaws of the stadium" or tilting the logo (not really) 27 degrees for 27 bowl games, but they don't understand the importance of frickin' school colors.

[WSU151]

I'm going to argue that for a special game, a game that will be replayed for years, that this shouldn't be the time to dress up. It is possible for them to wear school colors and also wear some state of the art new uniforms. It doesn't have to be completely devoid of color.

This will be the finest athletic moment in school history and they won't be wearing their colors.

It's pretty amazing that Nike will do all of this amazing BS about representing the "jaws of the stadium" or tilting the logo (not really) 27 degrees for 27 bowl games, but they don't understand the importance of frickin' school colors.

That's a great point. Although give them a chance, and Nike will tell you that the uniforms represent key features of the University of Oregon campus, like the gray represents the sidewalks, the black represents the lamp posts, and white represents columns and window accents of historic buildings...with this new moisture wicking technology...you can sense you're already on campus.

[lahaye7]

I don't hate the uniform, but was something similar to this so hard to do?

These with kelly green pants would've been perfect.

Here's a one team-color option or even a, wait for it, two team color options that would look better than what their going to wear

Bravo my man!

[OnWis97]

Look at the difference that makes. Oregon is still Oregon (new uniform...again) and uses school colors. I don't love, but can deal with, the use of gray. But to not use school colors for what they hope will be the best moment in team history...just so they can help us talk about Nike?

You can put Nike on display (as we did last weekend with all four teams) and still use school colors.

[TheRicSlick]

Maybe Oregon's new tradition is not wearing school colors in the NCG.

[lahaye7]

I'm going to argue that for a special game, a game that will be replayed for years, that this shouldn't be the time to dress up. It is possible for them to wear school colors and also wear some state of the art new uniforms. It doesn't have to be completely devoid of color.

This will be the finest athletic moment in school history and they won't be wearing their colors.

It's pretty amazing that Nike will do all of this amazing BS about representing the "jaws of the stadium" or tilting the logo (not really) 27 degrees for 27 bowl games, but they don't understand the importance of frickin' school colors.

That's a great point. Although give them a chance, and Nike will tell you that the uniforms represent key features of the University of Oregon campus, like the gray represents the sidewalks, the black represents the lamp posts, and white represents columns and window accents of historic buildings...with this new moisture wicking technology...you can sense you're already on campus.

I posted that the adidas UCLA treadmarks unis represent the LA Traffic.

[martymcfry]

I don't hate the uniform, but was something similar to this so hard to do?

These with kelly green pants would've been perfect.

Here's a one team-color option or even a, wait for it, two team color options that would look better than what their going to wear

Very clearly, Nike has had very good ideas for Oregon for before, and they waste so they can go... gray scale. Geez.

[DrJack]

.

[TheStoicPaisano]

I'm going to argue that for a special game, a game that will be replayed for years, that this shouldn't be the time to dress up. It is possible for them to wear school colors and also wear some state of the art new uniforms. It doesn't have to be completely devoid of color.

This will be the finest athletic moment in school history and they won't be wearing their colors.

It's pretty amazing that Nike will do all of this amazing BS about representing the "jaws of the stadium" or tilting the logo (not really) 27 degrees for 27 bowl games, but they don't understand the importance of frickin' school colors.

That's a great point. Although give them a chance, and Nike will tell you that the uniforms represent key features of the University of Oregon campus, like the gray represents the sidewalks, the black represents the lamp posts, and white represents columns and window accents of historic buildings...with this new moisture wicking technology...you can sense you're already on campus.

Well, when Notre Dame pulls this stunt (end zone lines tilted 43° towards the man in the pointy hat at the Vatican), no one says boo. Nike does it and people flip out.

[Xist2inspire]

I'll say this in Oregon's favor...they are probably the only team in sports today to make black/gray alternates truly work, as in when I see this, even though I don't see school colors, I say, "yeah, that looks like Oregon." I don't struggle to make sense of it or try to find the rationale behind it like the Lakers' black, Kentucky's black (and gray), Golden State's dark gray, Miami's "Hurricane gray," the Celtics' black (and gray), etc., I just accept it. Oregon has embraced the use of neutrals and alternate shades of green & yellow to the point where they'd literally have to walk out in another color entirely for me not to recognize them (which is why I didn't care for the breast cancer uniforms). Oregon's alternates work because unlike just about every other sports team out there, they're not just a money grab, they're not just following the crowd, they're not just shoved out there on a whim, they're not fashion jerseys. This is their identity, it's what they do, and they've embraced that totally.

For me, I have to respect that. If you're going to prance about in alternates all willy-nilly, then you'd better commit to doing so on a regular basis. If you're bold enough to deviate from your colors during the regular season, then you should be bold enough to do it when the games actually matter. If not, then you don't have any business wearing alternates at all.

[mjd77]

I kinda figured Oregon would use those, even being the home team. There is no way Nike was going to show the jersey a few weeks ago and then not use it this season as long as Oregon was still playing.