The No. 3 ranked and so far undefeated Tennessee Volunteers Men’s Basketball team will debut a brand new uniform this evening when they take on the Syracuse Orange. The BFBS uniforms are nicknamed “Dark Mode,” and their unveiling was done via video.
the nightmare before Christmas
Dark Mode debuts Tuesday 🟠⚫️
tickets → https://t.co/Xj6Lhkg4dG@DICKS pic.twitter.com/WhMwoxObwQ
— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) December 2, 2024
College football and baseball fans will immediately notice the similarity between the hoops uniforms and those recently worn by the baseball team (which won a national championship wearing “Dark Mode” jerseys) and also their football team.
When Nike took over for adidas in 2015 as the school’s uniform provider, the team began using the shortened “VOLS” as a wordmark. Nike immediately set to work on producing black alternates for different sports. As you can see in the links above, the baseball team has “VOLS” in Tennessee orange across the chest, while the football team places “VOLS” on the helmet’s nose bumper.
The new black hoops uniforms follow that same style.
The video showed some grainy and smoke-encrusted shots of the uniform.
Fortunately, there were also two high-res photos of the uniform which shows it much more clearly.
And here’s a side view.
Aside from being BFBS, these uniforms are about as plain as possible. The jersey features “VOLS” in a bespoke font in orange above an orange number. The rear is also solid black with NOB and number in orange. The only other additional elements are the maker’s mark and SEC patch. Pants are similarly plain. There is a small bit of text on the waistband of the shorts. It’s very difficult to read, but if you zoom in, it says, “ROCKY TOP.”
This won’t be the first time Tennessee has played in a basketball uniform with “VOLS” across the chest. One of Nike’s first collabs with the hoops team in 2015 was to introduce “Smokey Grey” uniforms that are similar to the new Dark Mode BFBS unis.
Our new Nike Smokey Grey uniformss incorporate elements from Tennessee teams in 1909-10, 1911-12 and 1940-41. pic.twitter.com/Jpc2tELEQr
— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) July 2, 2015
As mentioned, the Volunteers are undefeated so far this season, and ranked No. 3. They are 7-0 so far on the season. Their opponents, Syracuse, are 4-2.
I’m not a big fan of BFBS, so the new uniforms don’t resonate with me as much as they could. But if you’re going to do BFBS, it’s best to do it right (as the football team has done). I’d need to see them on court to know for sure, but dismissing the BFBS aspect, I like these. Sometimes simple design is the best design, and these are about as minimalist as one can get. It’s interesting the school would choose to debut these uniforms against another “orange” school (and Syracuse are literally known as “ORANGE”).
Your thoughts?
It’s interesting the school would choose to debut these uniforms against another “orange” school
It’s not so much that as it is they’re debuting them in the ESPN-created ACC/SEC Challenge. Tennessee just happened to draw Syracuse this year (although I think they try to pair teams of relatively equal strength against each other).
Don’t hate it, as it is very similar to the baseball team’s black jerseys. I don’t mind that they’re plain either, The football team has gotten a bit wild with the Smokey Greys with mixed results. Personally I would have liked them to do like the football team and just made a black version of their regular uniform but making it similar to the baseball team’s black jerseys is cool.
Looks like a practice uniform.
Not bad, but I prefer they do a smoke grey themed one like the football team has. Can add elements of black to that without bfbs and it makes sense. Those 2015 ones look pretty nice.
It’s a shame to see them wearing this piece of crap when the Vols have some of the best regular uniforms in all of college basketball.
[insert organization] to debut uniforms in a color not in their color scheme
Groundhog day in the world of uniform news
Wow. Those look terrible. Not sure why Tennessee is so averse to its school colors.
In the 1970s, the men’s basketball uniforms had the same light-blue trim the Lady Vols have used for decades. If Tennessee insists on having alternate basketball uniforms, why not incorporate light blue as a trim color into an alternate uniform?