Clint 1 Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 Welcome back to day two of listing the NCAA football team uniform changes! Day one can be found right here. We still have a lot of teams and changes to go through, so let’s get going. American Athletic Cincinnati- After a season or two of Cincy adding new additions to their uniform collection, we only get these two pictures of the new uniforms. As you can see, new AA conference logo, and “tread marks” make another return…Wish we could see more, but I would expect to see some different, and new, aspects in the future. Grade- B Houston- Last season Houston rolled out a redesigned UH logo with the new Cougar Head logo. Now, they seem to have gone a bit equipment happy. The white UH helmet is flat out gorgeous. Sadly, that’s about it. I wasn’t a fan of the new cougar head logo at all last year, so needless to say I’m not a fan of the helmets with that logo. The red one with the traditional placement isn’t too terribly bad. The red helmet with the oversized cut-out cougar head, yea, that doesn’t work for me at all. And then the diamond plate UH helmet? Looks like Houston, Nike, and Hydro Graphics, Inc. (who created the likes of Oregon’s chrome winged helmets and such) just went “Ya know what? We can do whatever we want. Let’s try something completely different!” Sorry fellas, but you shouldn’t have… Houston also got new jerseys, now with number outlining, and some sort of striping. Have I mentioned that I hate armpits and silly shoulder things? Here is the prime example of what I’m talking about. With the reveal of the uniforms, only the matte white and glossy red helmets were shown, so, will we see the other crazy designs, or were they just mock ups? Grade- C+ Louisville- The Louisville Cardinals have now updated their uniforms, complete with AAC patch and adidas “treadmarks”. Also, a new pair of black alternate pants, which look good paired with that white top. Hopefully we won’t see all red this year. And how can you not like this gorgeous matte white helmet?! No word just yet if this is real or not, which I really hope it is. Grade- B+ Memphis- Memphis has had some unique looks over the years. Early this year, the alumni association had these mock ups for their members to vote on. Unfortunately, it seems that the grey pants (and possibly white, hard to tell) made it through, and, if you can look very closely, the blue and white jerseys have faint black stripes as well. But the biggest news is with their three new helmets. Who likes chrome?! 17 year olds, that’s right! I love the traditional blue lid with the M and tiger logo going chrome. I also really like the chrome blue with TV number lid. But I really love the new silver chrome helmet, if it weren’t for the decal and striping having those tiger stripes inside of them. Other than that, I like these helmets. Will be very interesting to see how they look onfield. Chrome is the new black, if you haven’t noticed yet. Grade- B UCF- UCF has been releasing their new uniforms very un-traditionally. They released the uniform design on an ESPN TeamDesigner-like template (Bush league UCF, C’mon!). Then they show off the uniforms, along with the new helmet design, at a season ticket holder dinner (with no models I may add). And to top things off, they show off one helmet with the design they want, and another with the colors they are supposedly going to use. The look is very bleh, but the presentation receives a failing grade. And what seemed like forever after we got the first look at everything, we finally see what I think is the final product, and actually on a real person! I like. I really like the unique lid. I like the metallic gold portion, but I wonder how it will look on the helmet models that don’t have that raised portion of the crown. Grade- B for uniforms, F for reveal (It’s called showmanship man!) UConn- Nike has been working overtime this offseason, rebranding and redesigning many teams already. Now, they show off their work for Connecticut. They rebranded everything, straight down to the husky head logo (Here’s a nice timeline of all the previous husky logos used). The uniforms themselves are actually pretty nice- nice, clean, bold. Random “piping” or striping or whatever it is would be better if it actually connected somewhere. The pants stripe is simple and new and exciting. The helmet- oh lord, the helmet…oh boy, where to start…how about back at the drawing board. These never should have left there. No. Just no. Tiger/Husky/Dog/Cat/Snake eyes should NEVER be used solely on the helmet. I miss the traditional block C to be honest… (The helmet was actually upgraded a few weeks after the reveal, adding a contrasting outline around the stripe) Grade- C+ Conference USA FAU- Oh Florida-Atlantic, what happened to your wonderful uniforms? They’re gone, sadly. Last year they went downhill fast. Now, they’ve added a new helmet. They were contemplating one of these, and apparently they went with a design a little off from the prototypes. And unfortunately, they are still using their awful uniforms from last year…Just make the pant stripe full length and I won’t complain as much…Grade- C- Louisiana Tech- The Bulldogs of LaTech will have minor changes to their helmets. Instead of the “T” being white like in the past, it will now be red, which seems to be more difficult to read to me. I always thought LaTech had amazing helmets, and always loved that logo, but this is a downgrade. LaTech will also wear this pretty cool decal for their game versus Army on September 28. Grade- B for the decal change Middle Tennessee- Middle Tennessee State has just about as many uniform combos as you can ask for. Now they’ve added a new matte black helmet, and a nice white lid to go along with their traditional silver. They also have new Stars and Stripes decals to go along with this. Overall, nicely done. But this is the perfect example of what I hate about the matte helmet craze. Just look at it. The extra “negative” space on the logo decal adds a very odd effect. The decal itself would do this if the lighting was different. Many companies, teams, and designers think you can just add a matte colored helmet and do everything else the same (logo, stripes, etc…) as before, when in all actuality, it just looks awkward. I wonder if someone could come up with a matte decal to make it match? Grade- B Southern Miss- Southern Miss went from Nike to Russell (don’t hear that very often, again) over the summer. And it’s a shame. Nike made Southern Miss look good (which was apparently harder than you’d think). Russell’s new Golden Eagle uniforms look…bleh…so similar to Georgia Tech. Just…I don’t know what it is about Russell, but their uniforms just seem so bulky, the complete opposite of Nike and adidas and UnderArmour. This is really sad. Only plus I can see is the cracking, I guess, inside of the numbers. Subtle touch that you won’t see unless you’re right by the jersey itself. Russell just threw in random stripes and lines and quit. They also added a new helmet, which the fans voted on, which I’m not a fan of. Even more unfortunate, we more than likely won’t be seeing these gorgeous throwbacks… Grade- C Tulane- Last year Tulane began their own sector of the equipment “armed race,” adding many different styles of helmets over the year. They obviously are continuing that into this year’s season. I honestly like all the styles that are visible right here. I love the baby blue colored lid. I wish we could see the other’s in the back, but we may see them soon enough. A recruit tweeted out this picture of him wearing what seems to be a new grey alternate. Grade- incomplete Tulsa- The Golden Hurricanes of Tulsa (Oklahoma, doesn’t make sense to me either. Another mystery of the world I suppose) have updated their uniforms and switched them to Nike’s newest template, with Flywire, sweat box, and all. Much cleaner. Although, a little simple for my tastes. I liked that the old white uniform had the blue shoulders to break up too much white, but that is now gone. Also, as many other teams have done, a golden plated helmet (prototype more than likely) has been released. I really like this one though…How cool would that look with this custom (from BadAss Masks) facemask?! Grade- B+ Mountain West Colorado State- Colorado State has had so many issues with their uniforms lately. Mainly because of their providers. A year or two ago, the Rams switched from Nike to Russell (don’t hear that much), and Russell did them no favors. This year, they switched to UnderArmour. And UA helped out tremendously! I’m usually not a fan of odd shoulder designs like this, but I dig it. I like that they only have a green and white top, and white and gold bottoms, for now at least. The iconic helmet hasn’t been touched; good. And a good, thick stripe down the pants to break up a boring plain colored pair of pants (and notice the bottom of the stripe. That’s the same stitching design as Auburn. So UnderArmour is still a year or two away from fixing those…) Grade- A- Fresno State- After revealing new uniforms two years ago, Fresno State is adding a new set and three new helmets. First, the new white helmet. This helmet was actually revealed months ago by a recruit, which is nothing more than the original red lid switched to white. Secondly, the Bulldogs will wear a new 1996 throwback helmet, with “Bulldogs” written in script on the side. Thirdly, and what happened to be a big surprise to most, Fresno State revealed full out black uniforms, of course for a “Black Out” of the stadium. And I for one am a big fan of these. The helmet is matte black, with TV numbers on one side, and a fierce bulldog head on the other. The white arm pits and pant stripes do a good job breaking up the all black, even though they look awful on their usual uniforms. Thankfully, the black unis don’t have the ugly shoulder striping that the red and white tops do, very similar to what Arizona used to have. I used to think Fresno State had one of the best looking uniforms, and then they slowly ruined it. They ruined their helmet by adding the truncating stripe. Just go back to the simple WAC era uniforms…please… Grade- B+ for black, C overall Nevada- Another team that had their new uniform ideas leaked by recruits is the Nevada Wolfpack. Now, when Colin Kaepernick played here, they didn’t have the greatest uniforms, but still looked decent. Now, I don’t think they look worse, nor do they necessarily look better. But they did add a new lid, new tops, and new bottoms to mix! Yay! Anyways, the uniforms have been simplified, to basically just a shoulder pipe around the numbers. Then they threw in a new white helmet (blue lid is much better…). They apparently were looking at a grey helmet, but supposedly trashed it at the end. A new grey pair of uniforms and pants were also added. Unfortunately, again, because of Nike’s pant template, Nevada has the shortened stripes…I’m sure these will look better on the field, but we shall see. Grade- B San Diego State- The Aztecs from San Diego State have not only unveiled new football uniforms, but also an updated logo. The logo isn’t drastically different, and without this graphic, you probably wouldn’t notice a difference whatsoever. But you definitely would notice the football uniforms. And boy do these look good! Who doesn’t love UCLA stripes on the shoulder and matching stripes down the pants?! Very traditional, and I love that. I love these. Think white over black and vice versa would look good too. (Here are the old ones) Grade- A Wyoming- Wyoming has replaced their turf field this year, with a unique look nonetheless. As far as turf field designs, I like it! It looks better installed too. As far as football fields, don’t get me started on turf fields…I just want a nice mud game…is that too much to ask?! Apparently, cause turf fields ruined them Sun Belt Arkansas State- As Arkansas State starts another season with another new coach, they possibly have a new white helmet. And this new UConn style lid circulated the web, but no idea what if it’s real or not. Grade- B+ Georgia State- Georgia State has revealed new Nike uniforms. They also added a new helmets. The new uniforms are just plain. I liked the stripes on the old ones. If anything, I think there needs to be something to break up the monotony of a single color, like these new uniforms. I would like for them to not wear that all blue set, but you just know that wont happen…Grade- B- Louisiana-Lafayette- The Ragin Cajuns have released their new Russell uniforms. And I actually like these. Very clean, very bold. Just not a fan of the chest piping. (And is it me, or does Russell make the bulkiest looking uniforms?) These definitely beat the old set. I love the two sided helmets, with the Ragin Cajuns wordmark on one side, and the flue-de-li on the other. I think these look a whole lot better than the past set. Speaking of Ragin Cajuns, did you know the apostrophe in “Ragin” is actually a chilly pepper? Well, now you know. Grade- A- Louisiana-Monroe- The Warhawks of Louisiana-Monroe have updated their adidas uniforms. No more are the stripes around the back and pants. Now are just plain, somewhat boring, single color uniforms. And there adidas goes again, placing their logo under the collar, and making it look oh so cramped, when they could just move it over…Grade- B- South Alabama- The Jaguars of South Alabama will be playing their first full season at the D1 level. And to commemorate, they got new Nike uniforms. Honestly, these aren’t too bad, but aren’t the greatest. The typeface is painful to look at. Would look a lot better if they went with their logo typography. The helmet features a Denver Broncos style truncated stripe, and a very big helmet number. The pants are nice, but like most (if not all) Nike pants, stripes don’t go all the way up or down the leg because of the template. Overall, not bad, but could be better. Would like to see how they look on the field. Grade- B- Texas State- Remember when D-1 was 120 teams? Yea, that’s long gone. Now there’s too many teams to count, and we call it the FBS (yea, I hate it too). Let’s add another new team to the D-1 (still calling it that!) list- the Texas State Bobcats. The Bobcats will be playing in the Sun Belt conference to begin this milestone season. And they have some odd looking helmets…Texas State will also be coached by Dennis Franchione. Here are the uniforms they wore last year, don’t know if they have revealed new ones or not. Doing some research about this program, I found out I just love their stadium! I’m not sure why, but I just do! Western Kentucky- Unfortunately for the Red Toppers, they have a new coach this year. Even more unfortunate, it’s Bobby Petrino. But the good news, they have a wonderful looking chrome white helmet! Chrome base, and stripe! If only the logo was chrome as well. Really curious as to how this one will look on the field. Petrino also updated the uniforms, like he did when he got to Arkansas. And that’s a shame. WKU had some great uniforms, and these are decent by themselves, but a total downgrade after what they used to have. Random piping across the chest, “HILLTOPPERS” down the pant leg, and just bleh. The piping on the black uniforms doesn’t even connect to anything!! I wish they hadn’t touched the previous set, but then again, these could be a lot worse. I still like the chrome lid, but these uniforms take the grade down. Even the conference patch is on the wrong side of the chest!! (small detail that bugs me…) Grade- B+(lid) C (uniforms) Mid-American Buffalo- Did you know that Buffalo was in New York? Just to be sure you don’t forget that, Buffalo has added a new chest plate which reads “State University of NEW YORK Buffalo”. How awful is that…That’s so bad it’s hilarious. “What state do we play in again?” The chest plate definitely will cause some confusion with the new matte blue helmet, which looks great, reading “UB” for University of Buffalo…Black armpits on both uniforms makes these even worse…Grade- C- Kent State- Kent State has updated their uniforms, and the high school stripes are thankfully gone. These are a lot cleaner, and nicer. The base layer is annoying, but I don’t think a lot of players will be wearing those. Massachusetts- UMass played their first D1 season last year, with new uniforms to boot. Now, they have a possible new helmet, which I like. And a great story out of UMass for their spring game, where they wore nameplates with the names of victims from the Boston Marathon Bombing. Kudos. Grade- A- (helmet) A+++ (spring game) Miami (OH)- Definitely adidas’s most out there uniforms of the year, Miami (OH) has some wild ones. “MIAMI” is written across the shoulders, and the back of the helmet. Chrome lid, and chrome colored number outlines. The numbers and helmets and gloves have an odd feathered pattern. White pants and red pants have a HUGE “M” on it. Don’t really know what to think of these just yet. Bold for sure. Different, yes. Wait for it to be on the field? Absolutely. Grade- B for Bold Western Michigan- The Broncos of Western Michigan have received new helmet prototypes this year. Oddly enough, they look extremely identical to those helmets worn by the Broncos from Idaho…Even more odd, I like this one a whole lot better than two of Boise’s three helmets with this same design. It’s really hard to beat that matte black one with the red-eyed bronco, just saying. When WMU did reveal their new uniforms, the helmet design was slightly changed. The color has changed to a darker brown, and it is matte, as well as a matte white lid. The uniforms are just plain. Hey adidas, let’s get away from these super simple stuff…Also, the Broncos will be playing their 75th year in their stadium, so they have a commemorative logo. Grade- B Independents BYU- According to Wikipedia, BYU’s uniforms were royal blue from the 1970s to 1999, when the blue was changed to a darker shade. This year, BYU plans to throwback to the royal blue uniforms. Also, for homecoming, the player names on the back will be changed to “Tradition”, “Spirit”, and “Honor”. Am I the only one that wishes they would switch back full time to the royal blue? Grade- A (throwback) B- (gimmicky NOBs) Notre Dame- The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are coming off a great season obviously. So what does adidas do to commemorate the occasion? Update to the new “tread marks” template…Yuck. Hey adidas, MOVE YOUR LOGO OVER! Along with the typical uniforms, Notre Dame will be donning “shamrock series” uniforms for the second year in a row. And these are shiny. Glittery in fact. I do like Irish-style number font, as gimmicky as they may be. The numbers, shamrock, and helmets are so shiny…but that’s what 17 year olds like, right? Right. I liked the green helmet decal better last year, but anything, and I mean anything, is better than the 40/60 helmet design from last year… Grade- B- *Michigan and Notre Dame are playing their final regular season game, and at the Big House to boot. So, like anyone else with the opportunity, they have a logo for the game. Old Dominion- The Monarchs from Norfolk, Virginia will be playing their first season as a D1 team as FCS independent in 2013, with their second season being played in the C-USA. The Monarchs don’t really have a rich history (pun intended) with their uniforms, and their new unis aren’t much different than what their used to be. Why would I put a team that won’t even be playing FBS football for another year you ask? This is why. One of the most beautiful helmets ever crafted. Both matte AND chrome. That’s just gorgeous if you ask me! And apparently the logo is supposed to be chrome as well! I can’t wait to see these on the field!! Grade- A Lower Level teams Southern Conference Appalachian State- Last year the Mountaineers of App State got some awesome throwbacks! This year, they got brand new Nike uniforms. I like the matte black helmets, but wish the A decal wasn’t just an outline. I like that Yosef is staying this year, much like last year’s throwbacks. The only gripes I have about these are 1) silly shoulder thingys and 2) need something to break up the monotony. At least there is no piping like years past. Grade- B+ Citadel- The Citadel has new adidas uniforms. By now you know the deal, adidas, just move it over. Save me some heartburn. Please. Nothing special with these white ones. But wait, there’s a new blue alternate!! Very similar to what Michigan and Nebraska and Wisconsin (all adidas teams…) have worn. I like that blue color, and think that would be a great look on the field! Grade- B+ East Tennessee State- East Tennessee State has decided to restart their football program after being discontinued in 2003. Former Tennessee coach Philip Fulmer has been named Director of Football Operations, which will consist of head coaching duties. Here are just two of the prototypes presented at a press conference early in 2013. Wouldn’t mind seeing both of these this year. Grade-incomplete UT-Chattanooga- The Mocs from Chattanooga have a brand spanking new white helmet. It’s only the old blue one, but mocked up in white. I like it. Think it will break up this all blue look. And are those not the biggest numbers you’ve seen in a while?? Grade- B+ Ohio Valley Tennessee Tech- The Golden Eagles of Tennessee Tech have a wonderful looking purple helmet to go along with their typical look. Grade- B+ Big South Coastal Carolina- New matte black helmet (with glossy decal, bleh) for CC. Here’s what they usually wear. Grade- B- Independent Charlotte- 2014 will be the first year of football for UNC-Charlotte, but they will play in the C-USA in 2015. Now that they’ve revealed their new uniforms, I wish they would be play C-USA this year! I love these, only for the gradient(?) stripes, like the old stripes of Arizona. But overall, not a bad first set. Grade- B+ D2 Findlay- Ever heard of the University of Findlay in Ohio? Neither had I. Not until they revealed their new helmet, which makes them the first team ever to have a player’s name on the back of the helmet. Now what happens when you have something long, like Richardson or Lutzenkirchen?? Grade- A- And that does it for this year’s uniform tracker. I would love to continue to post things like this in the future here on AUFamily, if you guys would like. I used to think uniforms were just my personal forte per say, but I love seeing everyone’s reactions to all this kinda stuff. I even had non-uniform interested people read and enjoy yesterday’s post. And that’s pretty darn cool to me. Hope you all enjoyed, see you again next year (if you guys let me), and let’s hope for one hell of a season. I’ll be in the student section wearing this! War Eagle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunInRed 16,360 Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Again, well done. These threads are awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
passthebiscuits 6,831 Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 1. I love this. 2. Awesome posts for real. 3. uConns helmets are the worst I've ever seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charleston Tiger 134 Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 I wish my alma mater would get new jerseys. Ours (James Madison) are more plain than I would like. That said, I'm glad we haven't gone gimmicky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinForAuburn 128 Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Nice post. I think that Umass helmet is pretty cool looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clint 1 Posted August 28, 2013 Author Share Posted August 28, 2013 I wish my alma mater would get new jerseys. Ours (James Madison) are more plain than I would like. That said, I'm glad we haven't gone gimmicky. Honestly not the worst look. Could always be better, but it is simple. Also, don't usually see Captian C patches on college uniforms... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TigerDukes86 0 Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 I wish my alma mater would get new jerseys. Ours (James Madison) are more plain than I would like. That said, I'm glad we haven't gone gimmicky. I never thought I would run into a fellow JMU alum on the Auburn boards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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