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Sunday Morning Uni Watch 2024: Week Three

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Good morning, everyone. Today’s opening photo got me all fired up, and not because Central Michigan’s pants told me to be. Instead, I’m fired up because Illinois brought back their wonderful “Illini” helmets from the early 80s. I was hoping they’d bring back the early 70s dual stripes, and wear them against Purdue, but these helmets and this matchup against the school from Mount Pleasant were most pleasant. As nice as this looks, though, it’s not in my Top Five. So, who is? We’ll find out later, but let’s check in with the rest of the SMUW Crew first, beginning with the one and only Terry Duroncelet.

😅

Well… Northwestern State certainly walked right into a baptism, didn’t they?  With blowouts and early rivalry games abound, I say let’s just get right to it.

From Friday, September 13th
• K-State/Arizona: DAAAAAAAAAAAA CATS. Wait, didn’t I say this earlier in the– y’know what, let’s just acknowledge how cool these helmets looked in this Wildcats vs. Wildcats matchup (closer look, with much thanks to Blaise D’Sylva. Also a great shot of that Texas State Cats lid from the day before).
• Kansas/UNLV: The same amount of praise CANNOT be given to the Jayhawks’ BFBS togs. What’s sad is that I prefer this template and number font over their regular unis, just without the black. This whole game was more miserable to look at than Discord in Light Mode.
From Saturday, September 14th
• Kentucky/Georgia: If it wasn’t for the differing helmets, I would’ve been hit with that Hypnotoad treatment with how little contrast there was.
• Oklahoma/Tulane: I swear, few teams pull off light blue the way Tulane does.
• Illinois/Central Michigan: Illinois with some neat helmets against Central Michigan. Really, in general, this game looked OUTSTANDING.
• There were a number of teams that had some type of star-spangled showing over the weekend, including (but most likely not limited to) Buffalo and Fresno State (closer look),
• Minnesota/Nevada: How gold were the Golden Gophers on Saturday? Yes.
• Pitt/West Virginia: At first, I wasn’t too stoked on the Mountaineers’ combo for the Backyard Brawl, but after seeing it on the field, I immediately changed my mind. And hey, PLENTY of contrast! Not easy when your opp has more-or-less the same colors. Also, this is from a previous game, but I apparently (and foolishly) missed their memorial decal for Jerry West?
• Eastern Michigan/Jacksonville State: I know I’ve made a similar comment in the past, but you know that scene in a movie with a hospital or a school hallway, and it’s as cold-looking and dimly-lit as possible? That’s the vibe that this field (and the “invisible” grey unis that the Eagles wore) is giving me. Ol’ gloomy-ass field (also, trying to find a hallway pic that wasn’t AI-generated was tougher than I thought it would be).
• San José State/Kennesaw State: The Spartans of the Golden State came correct over the weekend.
• Baylor/Air Force: Baylor debuted their new charcoal weirdness against Air Force. Additionally, I don’t know if this gesture was technically effective or not, but the Bears wore camo decals that were barely-noticeable (the most necessary close-up).
• Cal/San Diego State: Contrast Matters: Cali Edition. What, were you expecting some 14 mile-long title? Sometimes there’s beauty in simplicity. Speaking of which: for all of the uni-related head-spinning that encapsulates college football, SDSU has been one of the most visually-consistent teams in college football for YEARS now. One pair of pants, two jerseys (white was already shown), and one cool-ass helmet. An undeniably-modern, but consistent identity.

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Thanks, Terry!
 
  
 

Canadian University Uni Watch

Returning for 2024 is Wade Heidt, who will appear every week on SMUW until the season ends. The jersey he’s wearing was created by the one and only Wafflebored (who took the photo as well). Now, let’s enjoy Wade’s look at the three-down, 110-yard game from up north.

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You know what time it is. Time for some university football uniform watching Canadian rules style! It’s time for the CUUW!

Each school has played 3 or 4 games now as they jockey for position in the standings. We are starting to establish who are the contenders and the pretenders in the chase for the Vanier Cup.

There are still some schools that have not been featured in the CUUW this season. We will see some of them this week. It is customary for the CUUW to travel our vast nation from east to west. Let’s visit a couple of games in the Quebec conference (RSEQ).

We will start at McGill University in Montreal. We rarely get to see the Laval Rouge et Or during the regular season in the CUUW. The reason is, unlike other schools, they generally play their home games on Sunday. The Rouge et Or do vary the combos, but it was a classic road look for them of gold/white/gold. The hometown McGill Redbirds went with their red/red/white combo. I love quirky uniform details. The numbers on only one side of the red McGill helmet meets this definition.

Before we hit the highway, let’s take a short drive to CEPSUM Stadium. The Montreal Carabins broke out the white helmets on Saturday. Going with their white/blue/white combo. The visiting Concordia Stingers wore a great looking road combo of white over yellow.

In the Ontario conference (OUA), it was time to guess what combo the Guelph Gryphons would wear this week. Really can be quite difficult to guess it correctly. The Guelph combo was white/red/white at home this weekend. The McMaster Marauders wore white over maroon.

We’re heading out west to the Canada West conference.

In Winnipeg, the Manitoba Bisons switched it up and wore white at home. The Bisons went with their white over brown combo. Manitoba has 3 different pairs of pants but they are missing one that I think would be beneficial. They don’t have a set of gold pants which would look good for the school. The visiting Alberta Golden Bears are another team that likes to wear multiple combos. It was yellow over white on Saturday for Alberta.

In Saskatoon, we had a couple of new helmets to feast our eyes on. The new home uniforms for the Saskatchewan Huskies are simply green and white. I’m coming around to this look. It has a timeless feel with the green jerseys over the white pants. The grey trim was removed from the uniform.

The primary Heritage “S” logo was replaced on the Saskatchewan helmets on Friday with the returning Huskie Head logo flanked by the “U” and “S”. A fun dynamic of a vintage helmet logo being replaced with a newer vintage helmet logo. I like the Huskie Head logo better and it would be a bonus if the Huskies switched to a white facemask. The Calgary Dinos didn’t want to miss out on the new helmet party. They unveiled a change to their white helmets. Their interlocking “UC” logo has been magnified and replaces the dinosaur paw print as the white helmet logo. The Dinos also went with a white over white combo.

A great weekend! Before signing off, I probably should mention this. The Mount Allison Mounties have played 3 games this season and have worn a different colour for pants in each game. It was garnet pants on Saturday visiting St. FX in Nova Scotia.

Looking forward to next week to see if any more uniform surprises will happen.

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Thanks, Wade!

 

 

 

2024 Uni Tracking

Uni Watch will again track the combinations worn by college football conferences. Long-time trackers Rex Henry (tracking the ACC), and Dennis Bolt (now tracking the Big Teen) are returning, as is Zach Wooldridge (tracking the SEC). We’re working on a Big “XII” tracker at the moment.

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We begin with Rex and the All Coasts Conference:

“I didn’t notice the updated adidas logo on the Boston College pants last week, but it looks like the maroon pants haven’t changed.”

(click here to enlarge)

More Here.
Follow Rex on Twitter here.

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Next is Dennis with the B1G:

“Good week to be a Duck: beat the Beavers and see Washington lose! The Apple Cup was nice looking though!”

(click here to enlarge)

Dennis not only runs the Big-10 Uniform Tracker blog, but he also continues the Oregon Duck Tracker blog, as well as the Pac-12 Uniform Tracker blog. And he’s on Twitter/X at @BigDuckTracker

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And here’s Zach with the SEC:

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Thanks, guys!

 

 

 

The 5&1 List

Once again I’ll give you five really good matchups and the worst looking one of the week. Unlike most lists, it’s not an *exact* ranking. It’s the five matchups that caught my eye the most, then I rank those from 5 to 1. Agree or disagree, but either way let’s have some fun with it.

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For those who haven’t seen the school they think is the best looking in the whole country, take heart. It’s a long season and most likely you’ll see them plenty of times. Heck, the best looking team of all hasn’t even been on the list yet. LSU fell between the cracks because they played past our deadline in Week One, and the last two weeks they were left out by their opponents. I almost put the Tigers and Gamecocks on this list, but USC’s numbers were just a bit too small for my liking. Oh, and for those who think I don’t stay up late enough to see what their favorite school looks like, trust me…I see a photo or a video of every game, every week. Ask Phil, who used to wait up for me, and ask The Wife. Anyway, let’s see who did make the list, beginning with…

5. The “Go Wildcats!” Matchup:

Arizona vs. Kansas State 

Yeah, Arizona has small-ish Under Armour numbers too, but they won me over with the red script “Cats” helmet.

 

4. The “No Worms In This Apple Cup” Matchup:

Washington State vs. Washington

I love it when these two teams look like these two teams!

 

3. The “I’d Rather Penn State Go With This Combo Against Pitt, But…” Game:

West Virginia vs. Pitt

Same as Terry, I had reservations about white/white/blue for the Mountaineers, which then went away very quickly.

 

2. The “Two Weeks In A Row?” Game:

Oregon(?) vs. Oregon State

Looking quack-tastic, Ducks, and this may be the highest I’ve ever ranked an all-black uniform.

 

1. Simply The Best:

Appalachian State vs. East Carolina

This reminds me a tiny bit of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats vs. the Shreveport Pirates, but it’s even better.

 

&1…UNLV vs. Kansas

Normally Phil will give me a way too early “Here’s your &1” prediction, but this week he nailed it.

 

 

 

That's All, Folks

Have a great and restful Sunday, and I’ll see you next weekend. Until then, take care, everyone.

 

 

Comments (36)

    West Virginia vs Penn State????? I’m not sure if that header is an example of carelessness or an insult.

    Out of curiosity, why do some links open in a new tab while other stay on the same tab and just expand?
    If possible it would be nice to have some consistency in the picture link behavior.
    It would also be nice if every game blurb included clear pics of both teams where possible, as well as one with both teams in the pic (like Tulane-OU just has a Tulane pic. I know we know what OU looks like; I’m just wish casting here).
    Anyway, I really, really appreciate the writeups because I know with all those CFB games it can be quite a task. These are just some ideas. Thank you for all your hard work.

    Oregon looks really good so far this season! Like surprisingly good! Here’s to hoping they stick to the cleaner and more simplistic look all year because it will be a great looking game when they play wolverines in November if ducks go white over green and michigan goes with the maize pants

    Oregon is killing it this year. I get that they’re Phil Knight’s personal plaything but the more classic look, melded with the Autzen-Heyward O and Puddles, in green and gold, is sublime.

    I have difficulty reconciling what I thought was a good look for Tulane with the nickname “green wave.” While channel surfing yesterday afternoon, I saw “Tulane at Oklahoma.” I clicked on this channel, and my first thought was, “Did I misread the guide? Wasn’t this supposed to be Tulane and Oklahoma?” My first thought was that we were getting some “bonus coverage,” possibly due to a weather event. Not the case – blue skies, and blue uniforms for the “green” team.

    Also, I’m often lamenting the disappearance of pants stripes on football unis, both college and pro. Yesterday I was glad to see the Mountaineers’ combo had nicely contrasting gold stripes on those blue pants.

    OT: I know it was discussed as a possibility, but the Patriots FB page seems to have confirmed they’ll be in silver pants today.

    Mention of the Shreveport Pirates bringing a tear to my eye lol. I look back now at the U.S CFL expansion as an interesting blip in time. 3 season of the bizarre is how it felt as a longtime CFL fan.

    The Pirates had a great uniform. Full of crazy stories in their short history just like the other U.S. CFL teams. If you were a player and you liked visiting the zoo, their 1994 training camp was the place to be. Both literally and figuratively. Enjoy the animals downstairs from the dorm quarters and enjoy the organizational chaos.

    link

    link

    In the past I’ve read comments (dis)likening the Commies looking too much like certain college teams.
    If (with a few modification, of course)

    …they dressed like Central Michigan yesterday, I think that would quiet the complaints a bit.

    I like they (as some say) “right-sizing” of the Calgary Dino’s helmet logo…but don’t care for the white lid. Too bad the shoulder cap pattern didn’t match the pant stripes…still a good white/over/white look in my book, but Saskatchewan dressed the best.

    Yeah, with Calgary the sleeve striping does match the red pants too. Same issues when they wear their red jerseys. The Dinos have been known to wear black pants but we have not seen any yet with this year’s new uniforms. Would be interesting to see if black pant striping would match what is on the sleeves for the red jersey.

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    I dig the Huskie Head logo on the helmet for Saskatchewan due to my nostalgia reasons. Was on the helmets regularly for a log period of time in the past.

    Love that US Huskie logo as it brings back great memories watching them battle Western in the 90’s including the 1994 Vanier Cup. To this day I always root for US to come out of the West and hope for a Hardy Cup/Mitchell Bowl showdown with Western.

    We did have the recent chapter of Western vs. Saskatchewan in 2021 Vanier Cup. I loved the uniforms in 1989 Vanier Cup between them. In brand new state-of-the-art SkyDome! Sask with great green and silver unis then. “Huskies” written under the Huskie Head logo on helmet at the time. Back when Western had their quirky signature uni details of everyone with “Western ” in nameplate and the UWO on just one side of the helmet.

    Surprised UGA/Kentucky didn’t earn the &1 this week. Kentucky is Big Blue. They get a rare opportunity to have a national TV game with the #1 team in the country, known for their “silver” (OK, dingy gray… thanks Nike) britches. And UK goes… dingier gray. Bad move. Kansas BFBS versus Kentucky GFGS is a tough call.

    I actually watched quite a bit of this game yesterday just for the sheer beauty of it. A bright sunny day and perfect contrast, Utah St in mono-blue and Utah in red/white/red. This should have been your number 1.

    link

    Just knew that Illinois throwback helmet was going to make it. THAT’s what I remember Illinois looking like when I was growing up. Living on the Iowa side of the Mississippi River though, just about all of us were Hawkeye fans. Even my Mom’s side of the family on the Illinois side were Hawkeye fans too LOL

    I was looking at the ESPN NFL week 2 uniforms article and they described the cowboys pants as “light navy” ‍♂️
    I know the author might not be well versed in uniforms but come on link

    Jim, how could IU/UCLA not even get a mention? Not a fan of either, but c’mon man, the Bruins have one of the best looks in CFB.

    Not many times that my 2 schools that I attended- Central Michigan (attended) and Northwestern State (graduated with2 degrees) are featured at the top of Uni-Watch. Great morning coffee read! Thank you!

    The Illini should stick with that look permanently, minus the arena league number font.

    Cal is just a spectacular looking team now. What they wore yesterday might be my favorite cfb uni.

    I thought all black TCU vs icy white UCF was a lock for the & 1. That was a real visual turd. But hard to argue against Kansas – UNLV.

    We often get excited for a color vs color matchup, but Kansas – UNLV proved that we should not get excited for a non-color (black) vs non-color (grey) matchup.

    When are you going to include the Big XII in the Uni Tracker? I’m a K-State alum, and not having it is insulting and lazy.

    “We’re working on a Big “XII” tracker at the moment.”

    If we weren’t looking for one, it would be insulting and lazy.

    Are you volunteering your services?

    And it’s funny that the people who usually complain the loudest are the ones who don’t subscribe to the site.

Comments are closed.