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Oklahoma Sooners Football Unveils 1946-56 Throwback Uniforms

This afternoon, the University of Oklahoma Sooners unveiled a new throwback uniform, based on the uniform the team wore from 1946-56, one of the most successful periods in school history.

During that 11-year span, OU had a combined overall record of 102-11-3 (.892) and an amazing 59-1-2 (.968) mark in Big 6 and Big 7 conference play. They were led by Coaches Jim Tatum (1946) and Bud Wilkinson (starting in 1947) during this period. The Sooners won their conference title every season in those years, which were part of a run of 14 straight conference titles (1946 through 1959) and three national championships (1950, 1955 and 1956).

With success like that, it makes sense for the team to honor those championship years by wearing a modernized throwback of the uniform they sported from 1946-56.

Of course, no unveiling is complete without the obligatory hype video, so here we go:

Not only did the team provide a bunch of clear, crisp photos of the throwbacks, they did something really cool: they took old photos of the team wearing the 1946-56 uniforms, and reasonably replicated the poses struck by those players with guys on the 2024 squad. We’ll get to those in a second, but first lets look at the uniforms.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the uniform worn back then (or at least the modern throwback) doesn’t differ all that much from their current uniform. The biggest difference is the white helmet with a crimson stripe. OU’s current lids are crimson. The throwback jersey is crimson, and features Northwestern stripes on the sleeve caps. Numbers are white and in a varsity block font. Jerseys are NNOB.

Pants are white, with two thick crimson stripes.

As mentioned above, the team posed their current players in similar positions as those from their 1946-56 glory years, a fun little twist for a uni unveil. Check it out:

You can see more of those shots in this gallery:

In the last shot in that gallery, the team juxtaposed current HC Brent Venables with past great Bud Wilkinson, even creating a retro t-shirt that is very close to that worn by Wilkinson!

You can see even more views of the new throwback uniforms here:

The Sooners will debut the new throwback uniform during its Week 2 (September 7) home game against Houston. As part of the 100th-year celebration of Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, each 2024 home game will feature a different theme. The game against Houston will spotlight the Wilkinson era.

As you can see in those side-by-side photos above, the uniform isn’t an exact replica of the 1946-56 uniform. The helmet is modern, but the color and stripe are close to the original. Due to the fit and cut of the modern jersey, the Northwestern stripes are slightly smaller and have been moved up from the biceps to the sleeve caps. The modern throwback pants also feature stripes that are considerably thicker than the originals. Still…a very nice effort and these are sure to look good on the field. I like them a lot!

What say you, readers?

 
  
 
Comments (10)

    Those look GREAT!!! I’d rather see these anytime over those funky alternates they have.

    They wore a similar throwback in 2003 against North Texas and the crimson turned into dark maroon because of a huge rainstorm. Hopefully these get a chance to get displayed in better water this time around.

    Not trying to be the Debbie Downer but the truncated sleeve stripes, modern helmet and biker shorts really ruin the retro look..
    Those photos and the effort are awesome though

    Weird to see SEC on an Oklahoma jersey! Looks great, just wish they’d take the Jordan logo off the front.

    Maybe one day they’ll learn how to do Throwbacks like that Illinois uniform…
    get rid of the logos and the modern touches at least for just one game…

    They look a lot like Nebraska at first glance. Good thing that hasn’t been a rivalry in a decade and a half, I guess.

    That was a nice spread of photos. I liked the side by sides. I think those will look great on the field.

    I liked Oklahoma’s uniforms until they started using the bespoke font. These are nicer.

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