By Phil Hecken & The SMUW Crew
Follow @PhilHecken
Ah, Championship Weekend, when everyone gets a trophy the best team from each NCAA conference is crowned, concluded yesterday, and even though we had a limited slate of games, there were some good looking ones. One of those was the ACC Championship, which was won by a mono-orange-clad Clemson team who destroyed Virginia to cap a(nother) perfect season. The Tigers were one of two teams by that name to finish the season 13-0. The other was the LSU Tigers, who took the Georgia Bulldogs to the woodshed yesterday. Yeah, it’s good to be a Tiger today.
But the best part of yesterday (at least for fans of a certain color), was we finally got to see Clemson in their all orange kit. As I said in yesterday’s post, I’m not normally a fan of mono-orange, but Clemson somehow manages to pull it off. Depending on how the seeding for the Playoff shakes out, this may be the only time this season we get to see that look. Heading into today’s games, THE Ohio State was #1, LSU was #2 and Clemson was #3. All won and finished off undefeated seasons. It’s hard to see those rankings changing (although I could see LSU and OSU flip). But should Clemson somehow eke out a #2 seed, we’ll get to see the mono-orange again.
I’ll turn it over to TJ now, who brings you your…
Sunday Morning Uni Watch
By Terry Duroncelet, Jr.
Short and sweet, here’s the quick-n-dirty of Championship Week, sponsored by me and this pizza that I’m eating as I write this and wasn’t expecting to be so big and now I have regrets (no I don’t).
From Saturday:
• In this outstanding-looking matchup between Burreaux and State Farm, LSU came out on top in convincing fashion.
• For as often as Memphis have worn the blue tops, it feels like I rarely see them for some reason. And those white numbers on a grey shell… WOOF! Not to mention, some of the scholars for Memphis were quickly approaching decorated service person territory with all of those patches.
• Louisiana and Appalachian State went color-vs-color for the second-straight year in the Sun Belt championship (photo from last year).
• Who says only video games and technology are subject to glitches? (photo cred Brad Eenhuis)
• This is cool: Ohio State rolled into Indianapolis with an Indy car leading the way! And something that Kyle Good noted in that Tweet is that the team bus still uses the old logo (note the white middle outline, which THE axed back in 2013 for their current logo.
• Some notes from Baylor vs. Oklahoma (apart from the fact that it was a pleasant-looking game): Baylor Wide Receiver Chris Platt Jr. wore jersey #12, instead of his normal #14 (h/t Squatchee On Top). This is due to Jacob Zeno wearing #14 (story on him here), and while you can have players with shared numbers on the same team, they cannot be on the field at the same time, so Platt tossed the blood jersey on to avoid a flag. Also from Baylor: typically, players would have their helmets decorated with merit decals well before the game even starts, but the Baylor sideline was handing them out in real-time anytime someone made a big play, such as Senior Linebacker Jordan Williams in this pic (Squatchee, again). Speaking of decals: Baylor really put the “Hurt” on Jalen Hurts’s OU decal (h/t Trayton Miller). Oh course, he and the rest of the Sooners would have the last laugh.
And THAT… will do it for the 2019 college football regular season. The 150th year of college football proved to be a fun one from an aesthetic standpoint (unlike a certain play for pay league that’s celebrating 100 years that shall remain nameless). But of course, we’re not done yet. It’s almost time to go bowling, and you can expect coverage of every single game. Until then, I’m gonna hibernate for a bit (blame the pizza). Thank you to everyone who took the time to read, hope you all enjoyed this year’s columns, and I’ll see you in a couple of weeks!
Thanks, TJ! Great “regular” season writeups. Looking forward to the Bowls. How about a nice big hand for all the work Terry’s done all season long!!! Give him a thanks in the comments, why dontcha?
Memal’s 5 & 1
Following in the footsteps of the original “5 & 1,” Jim Vilk, Catherine Ryan after him, and finally Joe Ringham, for 2019 we have a new “5 & 1” (five good looking and one stinker) uni-vs-uni matchups — Michael “Memal” Malinowski. Like Joe, Catherine & Jim, Memal will pick HIS 5 best looking/1 awful matchup, and occasionally have some honorable mentions (both good and bad). You may agree and you may disagree — these are, after all, just opinions and everyone has one. Feel free to let him know what you think in the comments section.
Here’s Memal
Two of my favorite Saturdays of the year are the first weekend of college football and this, conference championship weekend, the best teams of the seasons given one more chance to shine against bitter conference foes! Onto the games!
5. Utah vs Oregon
The opening game of the conference championship weekend was a wet one! The Ducks went mono green against the Utes mono white. It looked pretty good live and in the rain, but the weather and general lack of excitement seemed to suck a lot of energy out of the atmosphere. Next year this game will be in Las Vegas and should make for a fun environment nearly on it’s own.
4. Clemson vs Virginia
This was a matchup of two of my favorite uni sets! The reigning national champions pulled out their orange pants and went mono orange in Charlotte. The Cavaliers met them there in their solid mono white set. The game got away from Virginia early, but still looked good.
3. Baylor vs Oklahoma
The Bears and Sooners met in Dallas to decide the Big 12 title and didn’t dig too deep into the uni bin. Oklahoma went with their standard home crimson/crimson/white set, which contrasted nicely with Baylor’s green/white/green set. I bumped this up a notch because it was a hell of a game and the crowd was in it from the start and stayed strong until the horn sounded.
2. LSU vs Georgia
The Tigers met the Bulldogs in Atlanta and the teams packed their standard fare, Georgia their red/red/gray and LSU their gold/white/gold. An exciting game, a great atmosphere, and two SEC teams laying it all on the line, a great game to watch. [Them’s silver britches — PH]
1. Louisiana vs Appalachian State
The best looking game of the weekend was the color on color matchup in Boone, NC for the Sun Belt title in a game that if you watched had all the excitement of a big neutral site game. I liked that not only was this game color on color, but was mono on mono with the Ragin Cajuns looking sharp in all red and white stripes and the Mountaineers wore mono black with gold stripes. Great looking game for a mostly great looking weekend!
And because somebody has to be the sacrificial lamb…
&1 UAB @ FAU
Out of all the games this weekend, the Owls were the only team whose uniform choice had me scratching my head, mainly what’s up with the scales on the pants? Do owls in Florida sport scales instead of fathers? The Blazers looked fine, but Florida Atlantic looked bad and, like the line preceding this paragraph says, somebody had to be the sacrificial lamb.
Thanks Memal! You can follow Memal on the Twitter and please (even if you disagree with his choices) give him a nice THANKS in the comments for all his work on the 5 & 1’s this season, OK? OK!
NCAA Uni Tracking
Uni Watch will again track the uniform combinations worn by the “Power 5” conferences. All of the 2018 trackers are back!
We’ve got Rex Henry (tracking the ACC), Dennis Bolt (tracking the PAC-12), Kyle Acker (tracking the Big XII), and Ethan Dimitroff (tracking the B1G AND the SEC). Rex, Dennis, and Kyle and are all returning from 2015, and Ethan is back after joining the NCAA Uni Tracking a couple seasons ago. Ethan continues his dual role of tracking both the B1G and the SEC.
Here are the Uni Trackers for the Power 5 Conferences:
Rex is up first today (ACC):
ACC
More Here.
Follow Rex on Twitter here.
And (new for 2019!) — check out Rex’ Weekly Update.
And now, here’s Dennis with the PAC-12:
PAC-12
More here.
Follow Dennis on Twitter here.
And here is Ethan, with the SEC:
SEC
And be sure to check out Ethan’s WVU Mountaineer Tracker.
Follow Ethan on Twitter here.
And here is Kyle with the Big XII:
Big XII
Follow Kyle on Twitter here.
And here’s Ethan with the B1G:
B1G
Thanks guys — can we get a nice shout out of thanks for all the trackers this season as well? Of course, let ’em know below!
Welcome to the 2019 Oregon Ducks Uni Tracker. This little project was originally begun way back in 2008-09 by Michael Princip, who retired after several seasons, whereupon the project was continued by Tim E. O’Brien. He, too, retired from the tracking, but the project has been ably kept up by the man who also tracks the Pac12, Dennis Bolt.
Here’s this week’s Uniform Combo for the Ducks (you can click to enlarge):
You can read about this uniform, and MUCH MORE, by checking out the Duck Tracker here!
Thanks Dennis!
Uni Watch News Ticker
By Phil
NFL News: “It appears that the guy in the Smile Direct Club commercial played during the #SECChampionship game is wearing a sterilized @HarriSmith22 Minnesota @Vikings jersey,” observes Timmy Donahue. Update: Not only is it a Vikes jersey, it’s apparently an actual fan reaction to the Minneapolis Miracle (from Kyle Baker). And here’s how the unadulterated jersey appeared (also from Timmy Donahue).
College Football News: The always awesome Blaise D’Sylva continues his fantastic look at pretty much every helmet ever worn by every College Football team, and yesterday he extended his streak to the Colorado Buffaloes, who’ve worn more helmets than you’d think. … Colored cleats are no big deal nowadays, but how about these orange shoes worn by Clemson — way back in 1967! (from Douglas Ford).
Hockey News: The Kingston Frontenacs threw it back on Friday night. Dressed as the Kingston Canadians. This team was known as the Canadians from 1973 to 1988 (from Wade Heidt). He continues, “The throwback tied in with honouring former goalie Chris Clifford, who played with the Kingston Canadians in the 1980s. So it was fitting that the ceremonial puck drop was done by the goalies.” … Also from Wade Heidt: BCHL’s Coquitlam Express threw it back Friday night and played as the Coquitlam Comets. Wade explains: “The Comets were Coquitlam’s Junior A hockey team from 1976-81. The Express dressed as the Comets on Friday night. This seems to be becoming a once a year event now. Jersey close to the originals but not exact.” … Whoops! The Newfoundland Growlers were supposed to have worn Batman-branded uniforms Friday as part of a league-organized DC Comics theme night, but the Dark Knight garb did not arrive in St. John’s. The league tweeted out that the uniforms, which were expected to be delivered to the team early Friday morning, were not available because of “a logistics error on behalf of the specialty jersey provider.” … Here’s a look at the Vancouver Canucks in their Flying V sweaters (from Wade, again). … Every hockey team has had that one bad jersey that makes you question what they were thinking when they designed it — and the author of this article has chosen one for the Jets franchise (hint: it’s not a Winnipeg sweater). … The Penguins and Stars of the AHL went color on color last night (from Rob Caplette). … Whoa — major logo malfunction for the Devils last night (from The Goal Net). … Check out the specialty suits jerseys for the Wheeling Nailers last night (from Jerry Wolper).
NBA News: In the real world, snitches get stitches, but in the NBA, Chris Paul got a key free throw for the Oklahoma City Thunder in their OT win by noticing an opposing player’s (Jordan Bell) untucked jersey. It’s an “obscure rule”.
College/High School Hoops News: Today against St. Jose State, the San Diego State Aztecs basketball will wear “Chicago Bulls” retro uniforms. … South Lakes High School’s (Reston, VA) school colors are royal blue and kelly green, but they have added a BFBS uni set this season (from Jason Walker). … Good looking game yesterday in Waco, where Baylor and Arizona went color v. color (from Timmy Donahue). … Check out these sweet candystripe warm up pants for the Catholic University Cardinals (from bryanwdc). … Of course, no one does it better than Indiana (from Todd Grant). … Oral Robert will be wearing special turquoise Native American Heritage Day unis today. … Georgetown wore throwbacks while SMU wore “Dallas” uniforms yesterday (from Timmy Donahue).
Soccer News: Looks like a special jersey for Borussia Dortmund. According to submitter ArtzohneDr, “110 years of coal and Steel. Deeply rooted in our Region.” Dortmund is in the Heart of the Ruhr Valley, a major coal region in Germany. … New shirts for Vissel Kobe (from Jeremy Brahm). … Manchester United changed into black socks at Manchester City yesterday, to avoid a kit clash (from Josh Hinton). … Also from Josh Hinton, the 2019-20 Sevilla FC fourth kit has leaked. The 2020 Adidas Boca Juniors home kit has also leaked. Don’t forget to check Josh’s twitter feed for all your kit news.
Grab Bag: Here is a look at the new floor for the expansion National Lacrosse League New York Riptide (from Wade Heidt). The Riptide start on the road this year. Home opener not until Dec 28. … Chris Kael of Five Finger Death Punch wore a Kentucky hockey jersey when performing in Lexington, KY (from Josh Hinton).
South Lakes HS, home of Grant Hill.
Once again, it kind of seems like the “5&1” was selected by pulling games out of a hat.
I was going to comment that it must be a joke.
I didn’t really have a problem with the 5&1 until I got to the number 1 game. Mono black vs mono red made it in ahead of Ohio State vs Wisconsin?
I’d have said Georgia-LSU, but your point is well taken. Memal is simply trolling now, and making it painfully obvious.
Memal should not be back next season.
Today’s number 1 is just the final straw.
He is just simply awful at this.
Beyond awful. It’s like it’s on purpose.
That and he writes that he bumps things up or down based on how loud the crowd was or how good the game was? What the heck.
I know it’s a commitment to do this and everyone will pick your choices apart. But it doesn’t seem like Memal knows much about the teams or uniforms and doesn’t seem to put much effort into his choices. >> If anyone is wearing mono red put them at #1, fill out rest with as many mono on mono pairs as possible, with mono color vs color higher up, ok done.
This guy is bad, how is a color rash game number 1!?!?!?
FAU’s pants don’t have scales. That’s the old Adidas pants template. Do your research please
Yep, a number of Canadian university teams that are supplied by adidas wore the same pant template this past season, including the design being on the jerseys.
Montreal Carabins:
link
Sherbrooke Vert & Or:
link
UBC Thunderbirds:
link
Not a college football fan so I usually skip thru the rundowns but after seeing the criticism of Memal’s choices I’ve been checking them out and…… I agree with the readers.
But sometimes being criticized is better than being completely ignored so thanks Memal for making the 5 and 1 interesting!
Thanks Phil, TJ, and Memal! I always enjoy weekend content. I wish Clemson and UVa hadn’t gone mono, but both of their unis are so strong that I agree they pulled it off. Oregon was indeed a nightmare, and I would have liked to see a little more yellow for Baylor. Maybe a thin number outline or some pants stripes. Overall, a good looking weekend though (for the big schools that I watched anyway).
I really like LSU’s uniforms, but it makes no sense for a team called the Tigers to not have orange as a color.
Also I don’t understand why Baylor would give out the same numbers to players on the same side of the ball? I understand that it was unlikely that a third string QB was unlikely to see the field, but would it have been that hard to give him a number between 1-19 that wasn’t issued to an offensive player.
For what it’s worth, it seems that the school’s use of purple & gold (evidently dating to 1893) predates the Tigers nickname (first appears in 1896).
The school’s original colors were blue and white.
link
Why do tigers have to be orange? Why force the team nickname to be the color of the mascot?
PH: maybe them’s supposed to be silver britches on Georgia, but let’s face it, they are actually gray. Since apparently uniform manufacturers can no longer make shiny metallic football pants with their new fangled materials. It would be nice if they had actual silver britches, but sadly, that wasn’t the case.
Oregon… that was green? Looks really dark gray to me.
Watching on TV, it seemed like it was really close to the darkest shade you see in jungle camo.
Needless to say, Central Michigan outfitted by Adidas.
Meanwhile Nike continues to doninate the manufacturers championship, 23 of 24 CFP teams all time (if my math is correct) 2018 Notre Dame (UA) the line outlier.
Man U changed to black *shorts*. The black socks are part of the standard uniform.
Wheeling wasn’t wearing suits. They were Mr. Rogers sweaters! Note each of the names on the back had “Mr.” before the name. Great tribute!!
Apparently someone didn’t watch the Hawaii-Boise State game. That right there should have been the &1! Also of note was the Southern University (mono baby blue with white lids) at Alcorn State (mono purple) game. It looked much better than it sounds.
That was one fugly game, made even worse by the ridiculous blue field. While watching I thought it was an automatic & 1.
I saw the Borussia Dortmund game on TV yesterday and wondered why they weren’t going with their traditional yellow. Good to know.
Geeze, why did Wisconsin ruin their look with Black Socks? Either White or Red would have looked 1000% better.
We were at the SMU-Georgetown game Saturday night. The Georgetown kits looked teal, not the light blue, Carolina Blue. Very odd to see them in something other than navy or gray.