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Good Sunday Morning everyone. I hope you all had a pleasant Saturday.
In a bit of a programming note, I’d like to welcome aboard Matt Tomelleri who will be tracking the uniforms of the Big XII Conference. So, at long last (after seven weeks), we finally have all Power 5 teams uni-tracked again!
There were a number of good looking games yesterday (and a few stinkers), but for the most part, teams kept the one-offs and clown suits off the field (for a change).
Yesterday evening featured one of the best looking games of the year — featuring Miami at North Carolina — and the Tar Heels broke out their throwbacks against an all-white Hurricane squad. What makes a uniform great and what makes a specific matchup great are of course all in the eye(s) of the beholder, but UNC picked a great opponent to break out what many consider the best college football uniform of recent vintage.
Such a great pairing. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: powder (Carolina) blue pairs well with many colors, but best with navy, and UNC’s throwback checks all the boxes for a great uniform: helmets match jersey (both in color and stripe pattern) and the jersey with navy/white/navy sleeve stripes and white numbers in a navy block shadow gives them an added pop.
I like Miami in all white, too, but the different striping pattern on the helmet (green/orange/green) from the jersey and pants (orange/green/orange) throws off my OCD a bit. It might not be all that noticeable from the stands, but up close, it’s apparent. Still, Miami in mono-white is a great look.
I can understand how some folks don’t like a mono-white look, especially in bright sunshine, but under the lights at night it’s a great look. Pair that with the wonderful pastel tops and double-blue of the Heels, and you have a glorious looking game.
In an era when more and more college teams are going with stripeless pants (and a few who wear same-color socks for that leotard look), UM/UNC was refreshing. There are teams who go all-white for that “icy” look, but Miami isn’t one of them. Their all white unis have plenty of color, and orange/green are great accents. And the UNC throwbacks are by far and away their best look; I won’t go so far as to say it’s the best look in college football…but it’s close.
And now I’ll turn the rest of this section over to TJ who brings you the rest of your…
• • • • •
Sunday Morning Uni Watch by Terry Duroncelet, Jr.
So in my great stupor from last week, I completely forgot to mention an absolute Chad of a school who wore these for spooky season: Miami wore these togs against Georgia Tech, Iand I somehow omitted that completely. My bad. Anywho, onto Week 7.
__________
From Wednesday:
• Florida International/UTEP: FIU’s uniforms from Wednesday were truly the Florida uniforms of all-time (don’t double back: you read that correctly). Is it bad that I kinda want them to switch to these full-time?
__________
From Thursday:
• Houston/West Virginia: Houston (almost) UNDERSTOOD THE ASSIGNMENT. More teams getting into the spirit of Halloween Month, PLEASE!My only complaint is that they didn’t commit fully with black helmets. Disappointing (shoutout to West Virginia’s helmets BTW).
__________
From Saturday:
• Duke/NC State: Remember: it’s October, so any and all uni-crimes are 100% welcome. Duke knows what’s up.
• Penn State/UMass: It’s not that I dislike Penn State’s G.o.G. uniforms (they’re actually very nice)… I just can’t stomach the name. It feels oddly icky to me, like they’re getting high off of their own stuff. I feel like there’s a difference between being a content creator on the Internet and understanding that you have to be your biggest fan, because if you don’t give 2 flying squirts of duck shit about your work, why would anyone else care? … and whatever the Nittany Lions are doing.
• Washington/Oregon: Mono-purple for Washington. I can hear Paul shaking in his boots Chuck Taylors. Job well-done, Huskies. Oh, and shiny Oregon, I guess.
• Oklahoma State/Kansas: Two interesting combos for both squads. I almost never get to see Oklahoma State in orange hats, and while not bad per-say, seeing Kansas in white/white/red is quite bizarre.
• Kentucky/Mizzou: The sinsuits keep on rolling in, this time from Lexington.
• North Texas/Temple: Even The Mean Black North Texas is embracing their Halloween spirit, AND they followed through where Houston (and Kentucky) didn’t, by going the extra mile with the black helmets.
• Buffalo/Bowling Green: Fun throwback lids for the Bulls.
• Georgia State/Marshall: I’m totally not padding this column with seasonally-appropriate BFBS from both teams because Week 7 was slim pickings, what are you talking about?
__________
Week 7 is in the books. Let’s hope Week 8 is gr8! *not me in the background absolutely telling myself to shut the hell up for that horrible pun*
• • • • •
Thanks TJ! Super wrap, as always!
Canadian University Uni Watch
Returning for 2023 is Canadian University Uni Watcher Wade Heidt, who will bring us some looks at three-down, 110-yard Canadian university football from up north. That’s Wade to the right side of your screen (you can even click to enlarge). The shirt Wade is wearing was created by the one and only Wafflebored! Wade’s rundown will appear every week on SMUW until the season ends.
Enjoy!
• • • • •
Canadian University Uni Watch by Wade Heidt
What time is it? Time for some university football uniform watching Canadian rules style! It’s time for the CUUW!
The excitement is in the air as the regular season winds down. Now only two more weekends of regular season left for three of the conferences. Next weekend with be the last regular season one for Ontario. The run to the Vanier Cup is heating up as the weather cools down!
Coincidentally, a number of teams wore black jerseys this weekend that do not wear them on the regular. We will look at a sprinkling of games in the four conferences as usual. As we all know, the CUUW will travel from east to west.
• In the Atlantic conference (AUS), we had the Saint Mary’s Huskies breaking out the black jersey at home in Halifax. They wore a white/black/white combo. Though BFBS can be disastrous, this is tasteful for the usually maroon and white. Not a bad look. The visiting Acadia Axemen looked good wearing white over red.
Moving on to the Quebec conference (RSEQ), we will look at two games in Montreal.
• The Concordia Stingers wore their maroon over yellow combo. A great home combo for the Stingers. The visiting Sherbrooke Vert & Or wore their shiny gold helmets with white over green. The CUUW is always intrigued about what combo the Vert & Or will wear from game to game.
• This one was colour vs. colour for the battle of the Quebec powerhouses. The Montreal Carabins breaking out the black at home. Wearing their white/black/black combo. Not a common combo for them. The Laval Rouge et Or wore their gold/red/gold combo on the road. I do believe the Rouge et Or have avoided wearing white jerseys all season. Thought this game would have been closer. Appearing like the defending Vanier Cup champion Laval has been usurped. They likely will have something to say about that come playoff time.
• Since we looked a lot at the Ontario conference (OUA) last weekend, let’s look a single game there. The Guelph Gryphons have many potential uniform combos. They decided to go mono-black on Saturday at home. The Queen’s Gaels wearing their mono-yellow as the light road uniform. Guelph may vary their uniform looks a lot, but it is a safe bet they will always stay with their famous checkered end zones.
The Canada West conference had last weekend off, so we will look at a couple of games there.
• A big upset in Calgary. The winless Calgary Dinos got a win while wearing their mono-red combo from head to toe. The visiting UBC Thunderbirds were competing for first place in Canada West. A setback for them. UBC wore white over navy.
• The Alberta Golden Bears continue with the variation of uniform combos. Keeping us happy at the CUUW. It was a white/green/white combo at home in Edmonton. The visiting Saskatchewan Huskies wearing white over green. A standard road look for Saskatchewan.
Over and out for this weekend! Hoping you achieve your touchdowns in life in the upcoming week but take the rouges if you can get them.
• • • • •
Thanks, Wade! Super rundown once again!
Five And One
Jimmer Vilk’s 5 & 1
Welcome to the Five and One for 2023!
Once again, Jim “Jimmer” Vilk (the original “5 & 1” decider) has returned.
The original concept of the 5 & 1 was simple: Jim picked five good matchups and one awful matchup. He’s still calling the project “5 & 1” but with a new twist.
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.
If you have a game you feel is “worthy” of consideration for the 5 & 1, please either post it in the comments below or tweet Mr. Vilk @JVfromOhio.
Here’s today’s 5 & 1:
• • • • •
Every week I either see photos or watch footage of every game on the FBS schedule. Here are some random thoughts from what I saw this week:
* I don’t want to hear a single bandwagon Colorado fan tell me that this uniform is jinxed after that epic meltdown. This classic combo is ready for prime time, even if the team isn’t.
* Tulane should always wear green gloves no matter what combo they’re wearing, so they can make a proper green wave.
* I’ve been anxiously waiting to get Nevada into The Five because they’ve improved their unis immensely from last season. This wasn’t the week to do it, though.
OK, onto The Five.
__________
5. The “This Is How You Do A Red/Green Matchup” Game:
Michigan State/Rutgers
Love that number font, Scarlet Knights.
__________
4. The “I Found Another Red-Helmeted Team Besides The NJ Generals Who Looks Good With White Road Pants” Game:
Louisiana Tech/Middle Tennessee
And unlike last week, I love it when the Blue Raiders wear blue.
__________
3. The “Well, That’ll Get RickAZ Off My Back For At Least One Week” Game:
USC/Notre Dame
Nah, he’ll probably yell at me because it’s ranked so low.
__________
2. The “Superbly Excellent Combination” Matchup:
Auburn/LSU
There’s only one thing better than the Tigers under the lights…
__________
1. Simply The Best:
Iowa/Wisconsin
…and that’s this colorful matchup that really pops on a cloudy day.
__________
&1. The “You Think You Can Hide From Me By Posting Only One Really Dark Photo?” Game:
Louisiana-Monroe/Texas State
Thanks, Jim! OK readers? What say you? Agree or disagree with Jimmer’s selections? Let him know in the comments below.
NCAA Uni & Duck Tracking
Uni Watch will again track the uniform combinations worn by college football conferences. New this year is Zachary Wooldridge, who is tracking the SEC. And joining the SMUW crew to track the Big XII is Matt Tomelleri, so we again have all Power Five conferences tracked this season.
Long-time trackers Rex Henry (tracking the ACC and the B1G this year), and Dennis Bolt (tracking the PAC-12) are returning for another season. Following the tracking, Dennis again returns with his Duck Tracking (which is the longest continuously-running feature on SMUW!).
Welcome to the 2023 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.
I hope you guys like this feature and will want to continue to submit your concepts and tweaks to me. If you do, Shoot me an E-mail (Phil (dot) Hecken (at) gmail (dot) com).
• • • • •
Today’s concepts come from Trey Gorman.
Hi Phil!
With the Paris Olympics coming up, lots of attention has been put on the USA Basketball team after America’s disappointment in the FIBA World Cup. This “Avengers” team will be one of the focuses of the Olympics, so why not have them wear great uniforms? Elements from past looks are incorporated into the uniform, as well as new elements not previously used. I hoped to create a uniform that’s bold yet feels like a classic American look. U-S-A!
Trey Gorman
• • • • •
OK readers (and concepters). If you have some tweaks or concepts, shoot ’em my way with a brief description of your creation and I’ll run ’em here.
Guess the Game from the Uniform
Based on the suggestion of long-time reader/contributor Jimmy Corcoran, we’ve introduced a new “game” on Uni Watch, which is similar to the popular “Guess the Game from the Scoreboard” (GTGFTS), only this one asked readers to identify the game based on the uniforms worn by teams.
Like GTGFTS, readers will be asked to guess the date, location and final score of the game from the clues provided in the photo. Sometimes the game should be somewhat easy to ascertain, while in other instances, it might be quite difficult. There will usually be a visual clue (something odd or unique to one or both of the uniforms) that will make a positive identification of one and only one game possible. Other times, there may be something significant about the game in question, like the last time a particular uniform was ever worn (one of Jimmy’s original suggestions). It’s up to YOU to figure out the game and date.
Today’s GTGFTU comes from Francis Tavern.
Good luck and please post your guess/answer in the comments below.
And finally...
…that’s it for today. Please give it up for the entire SMUW crew: Terry, Wade, Jimmer, Rex, Dennis and Zach, and please (again) welcome Matt aboard!
You folks have a great Sunday and I’ll catch everyone next weekend.
GTGFTU: September 19, 1976 Giants at Philadelphia. It was the only game they wore red socks with the white jerseys/blue pants.
It would appear that biking shorts in football is now a thing. Trying to think of how else football uniforms can get trashed. I’m sure today’s players will come up with something.
Jimmer- yes LMU-TSU looked bad in the dark, but Oregon – Washington looked bad under all conditions! The eggshell unis with nightmare green numbers and silver lids is one of the worst unis in college football (and there’s some good competition for this prize). I love purple and usually love UW’s unis. But this years off purple striping is bad, and looks really really bad when going color rash.
That photo of the Oregon uniforms in the main article is from an entirely different game. The Washington player is in gold pants in that photo.
Terry, I support your opinion about Florida International. Saw that midweek. Thought to myself the colour scheme looks good. Some team needs to grow the stones to have that colour scheme as a primary look.
None of yesterday’s college football teams had a “bye.” Several were “off” for the week, however. Or “idle,” if you prefer. Even “on hiatus,” if you want to be creative.
Hi. I get this comment every year since I use the term in my graphic for the Pac-12. I do so since it is a common term in US football and most people use that term. While your other terms are used, Bye is the most common in my world. I don’t think any of these terms are incorrect. link. link
Has every South Florida team done the “Miami Vice” theme now? I hope so because it’s really played out.
That Miami-North Carolina certainly was a thing of beauty. I have no interest in either team but I stayed at the brewery longer than I otherwise would have just to watch it. Notre Dame-USC was fantastic as well. Two of the best uni matchups of the year on the same day.
Kansas should wear those stripeless red pants exactly never, but especially not with white lids and jerseys (and against a team wearing orange – providing a surprisingly low contrast game).
USC – Notre Dame was a good looking game that would have been even better if the Trojans road jersey didn’t have that contrasting toilet bowl collar (and maybe it’s time to get rid of the shoulder slash/stripe), and if the Irish didn’t have tiny child numbers.
Wow, I don’t remember the NY Giants ever wearing red socks before?
Preseason 1976 and exactly one game (identified above) in the regular season against Philthadelphia
See, at 59 years old, I am never too old to learn something new from Uni Watch.
Those USA B-Ball Unis are top notch.
Strongly disagree that all-black unis are “seasonally appropriate.” Only orange and black IMO.
Yeah what the ****! Actually, this is probably about right since these classic games just don’t look as good under the lights.
Although I agree the USC and Notre Dame uniforms both look great in isolation, I thought this was actually a tough matchup to watch because of how bad the pants colors clashed.
Tulane had a wonderful uniform this weekend as well and so did their adversaries, the Memphis Tigers. But to me UNC-Miami takes the cake, followed by my Irish (who should ditch UA and its baby numbers indeed) overwhelming FC Hollywood.
The helmet logo for Illinois is incorrect in the tracker. Fighting Illini have not used white Block I since 2017.
GTGFTU: September 19, 1976 Giants at Philadelphia. It was the only game they wore red socks with the white jerseys/blue pants.
It would appear that biking shorts in football is now a thing. Trying to think of how else football uniforms can get trashed. I’m sure today’s players will come up with something.
Jimmer- yes LMU-TSU looked bad in the dark, but Oregon – Washington looked bad under all conditions! The eggshell unis with nightmare green numbers and silver lids is one of the worst unis in college football (and there’s some good competition for this prize). I love purple and usually love UW’s unis. But this years off purple striping is bad, and looks really really bad when going color rash.
That photo of the Oregon uniforms in the main article is from an entirely different game. The Washington player is in gold pants in that photo.
Terry, I support your opinion about Florida International. Saw that midweek. Thought to myself the colour scheme looks good. Some team needs to grow the stones to have that colour scheme as a primary look.
None of yesterday’s college football teams had a “bye.” Several were “off” for the week, however. Or “idle,” if you prefer. Even “on hiatus,” if you want to be creative.
Hi. I get this comment every year since I use the term in my graphic for the Pac-12. I do so since it is a common term in US football and most people use that term. While your other terms are used, Bye is the most common in my world. I don’t think any of these terms are incorrect. link.
link
Has every South Florida team done the “Miami Vice” theme now? I hope so because it’s really played out.
That Miami-North Carolina certainly was a thing of beauty. I have no interest in either team but I stayed at the brewery longer than I otherwise would have just to watch it. Notre Dame-USC was fantastic as well. Two of the best uni matchups of the year on the same day.
Kansas should wear those stripeless red pants exactly never, but especially not with white lids and jerseys (and against a team wearing orange – providing a surprisingly low contrast game).
USC – Notre Dame was a good looking game that would have been even better if the Trojans road jersey didn’t have that contrasting toilet bowl collar (and maybe it’s time to get rid of the shoulder slash/stripe), and if the Irish didn’t have tiny child numbers.
Wow, I don’t remember the NY Giants ever wearing red socks before?
Preseason 1976 and exactly one game (identified above) in the regular season against Philthadelphia
See, at 59 years old, I am never too old to learn something new from Uni Watch.
Those USA B-Ball Unis are top notch.
Strongly disagree that all-black unis are “seasonally appropriate.” Only orange and black IMO.
Yeah what the ****! Actually, this is probably about right since these classic games just don’t look as good under the lights.
Although I agree the USC and Notre Dame uniforms both look great in isolation, I thought this was actually a tough matchup to watch because of how bad the pants colors clashed.
Tulane had a wonderful uniform this weekend as well and so did their adversaries, the Memphis Tigers. But to me UNC-Miami takes the cake, followed by my Irish (who should ditch UA and its baby numbers indeed) overwhelming FC Hollywood.
The helmet logo for Illinois is incorrect in the tracker. Fighting Illini have not used white Block I since 2017.