Good morning, everyone. What you see above is the final bowl game before the 2024-25 semifinal matchups. Yesterday’s Bahamas Bowl, featuring Buffalo and Liberty, looked like a lot of games this season: mono(tonous) vs. mono(tonous). It wasn’t really bad, though, so it didn’t make my final &1. Before we find out who did, let’s go one more round with the Sunday Morning Uni Watch Crew. As always, we begin with Terry Duroncelet, Jr. Take it away!
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From Monday, December 30th, 2024
• Mizzou/Iowa: Given the color palette, this really should have been called the “Wiz Khalifa Bowl”. Starting off with the University of Missouri Tigers in… not my favorite combination of white/black/black, facing off against the University of Iowa Hawkeyes in a far-superior black/white/gold look. I think “Steelers Bowl” is also an acceptable alternative.
From Tuesday, December 31st, 2024
• Michigan/Alabama: I think it’s high-time we buttoned up this ashen heap of a year. And what better way to do that than with the way it literally began, a rematch of the 2024 Grandaddy Game? As much as I don’t like giving brands (especially questionable ones) any flowers whatsoever, I think it’s appropriate to call this one the “Temu Rose Bowl”, because WOW, how both teams have fallen after having stellar seasons just the year before, with one of them even being last season’s national champs! Them’s the works, I guess. Anywho, we have the University OF Michigan Wolverines in proper maize pants and navy lids and helmets, and the University of Alabama Crimson Tide in mono-white, with the classic crimson helmets.
• Illinois/South Carolina: Now THIS is art. In one of the best-looking bowl games of the season, we have the Fighting Illini of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in orange/navy/orange, and some nice new script decals (close-up from Blaise D’Sylva, but I understand — at the last second — that a certain Elongated Muskrat has made it difficult for people who don’t have/won’t use Twitter to see links). They faced off against the University of South Carolina Gamecocks in all-white, with what I’m calling the big-decal helmets (normal lids for comparison. Not to be confused with their 80s throwbacks).
• Washington/Louisville: You remember how JMU/WKU’s bout was nice and colorful? This is the cursed version of that bowl game. We have the University of Washington Huskies in… all-black. I’m not seething at ALLLLL, I don’t know what you’re talking about. On the other end of the ball, we have the University of Louisville Cardinals in all-white. So much potential, WASTED.
• LSU/Baylor: Apparently, this bowl game forces the designated home team to wear dark jerseys. This, in turn, has facilitated the Secret-Rare occurrence of a certain Baton Rouge Bayou Bengal team wearing colored jerseys in a bowl game. That very team? Say it with me now: the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College Tigers (this is not a bit), who wore white/purple/white. They faced off against the Baylor University Bears, who picked up LSU’s slack from the waist up by wearing gold helmets and white jerseys, albeit with green pants. A lackluster season for LSU, but they ended on a high note, with a bowl game victory in Baylor’s home state.
• Boise State/Penn State (CFP): It wouldn’t be New Year’s Eve without at least one major bowl game. A big one here, as The Pennsylvania State University Nittany Lions wore their actual classics, against the Boise State University Broncos, in what is IMO their greatest (and definitely most famous) combination of blue helmets, white jerseys, and orange pants. A bowl game that I would consider to be Boise State’s backyard… sadly didn’t work out for the Broncos this time around. Penn State advances to the next round.
From Wednesday, January 1st, 2025
• Arizona State/Texas (CFP): A Southwestern-favored showdown in the next major bowl game, and the first football bout of 2025, between the Arizona State University Sun Devils in the simple (but effective) gold/maroon/gold, and the all-white clad Longhorns of The University of Texas at Austin. Probably the biggest nail-biter of the major bowls thus far, ultimately decided in overtime in favor of Texas.
• Oregon/Ohio State (CFP): By now, you should know just how much I love this bowl game. So it came as a surprise to me when Team Donald Duck was trailing THE 31-0… by the northern end of the second quarter. I was stunlocked. Well anyway, we have Fighting Ducks of the University of Oregon in chrome helmets (with green wings), green jerseys, and white pants. They faced off against THE Ohio State University Buckeyes, who wore grey helmets and pants with white jerseys. A kinda-B1G-vs.-Pac 12-but-technically-a-B1G-
From Thursday, January 2nd, 2025
• Ole Miss/Duke: Yeah, no contest on who was the better-dressed team here. On the winning side of the ball, we have the University of Mississippi Rebels in a variation of their best combo of light blue helmets, red jerseys, and white pants (although grey would’ve been better). And on the other end, we have the Duke University (look at all of these former names) Blue Devils, who wore… well, it certainly wasn’t blue.
• Georgia/Notre Dame (CFP): A not-so-sweet ending for the Southern favorites. Our next big bowl game involves the University of Georgia Bulldogs in red helmets and jerseys, with the silver britches, and the University of Notre Dame du Lac Fighting Irish in their illustrious golden dome pieces, white jerseys (with seasonal NOB), and gold pants.
From Friday, January 3rd, 2025
• Texas State/North Texas: The Texas Bowl that wasn’t the official Texas Bowl. A surprisingly colorful matchup in Dallas, between the Texas State University Bobcats in gold/maroon/gold, and the Mean Green of the University of North Texas in green/white/green. In a world of collegiate elites, it’s nice to see the lesser-known FBS school shine in terms of uniforms sometimes.
• Virginia Tech/Minnesota: The second of the Friday bowl games features the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (meh, not the same level of chaos as LSU) Hokies in maroon/maroon/white, and the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in the appropriate attire of gold helmets and pants, with white jerseys. A golden opportunity for Minnesota, and they took it with a (savory and a bit acidic) win.
From Saturday, January 4th, 2025
• Liberty/Buffalo: And to round out this season’s bowl games, we have the Liberty University Flames in mono-navy, and the all-white clad Bulls of The State University of New York at Buffalo of the United States of America, at Planet Earth, of the 7th Universe. Not many people think of success when they think of UB, but they simply went to work, winning this bowl game, and extending their win streak to 5 games, and finishing out the season 9-4.
And with that, the 2024 college football season (save for 3 games) has come to an end! I wish I wasn’t dealing with a lot of mental and physical burnout (from other things, just so we’re all clear), because I definitely wish I could give a better wrapup. Guess I’m my own 2024 Alabama squad (seriously, how do you lose to Michigan AGAIN in the bootleg Rose Bowl rematch I — *proceeds to rant and ramble*). At any rate, thank you for all of your guys’ patience, and thanks for sticking through it. As always, I want to give a monumental shoutout to Blaise D’Sylva, who’s tirelessly kept me updated on all of college football’s helmet happenings. MASSIVE shoutout to Jim, who has been nothing short of supportive and patient with me (especially in these last couple of brainworm-laden weeks). And of course, the biggest thanks goes out to you guys. 13 years later, and you guys still show up on Sundays, I can never thank you guys enough for that. I’m gonna sleep for about… 8 months? Yeah, that sounds about right. Have a great Sunday, Happy New Year, and I’ll see you guys soon. Take care!
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Thanks, Terry! Enjoy your rest.
– Baylor looked like the Packers with green pants.
– I wish Oregon would stick with the O logo on their helmets instead of the wings.
Jimmer, has Brutus ever been that prominent on any OSU uniform, ever? I’m a huge fan of all things Buckeye, and I can’t remember seeing him be so front-and-center on anything I’ve watched or seen.
I wondered this very same thing. I May purchase one if available! Go Bucks!
On another note, was disappointed to hear this morning that the Heritage Stripes won’t be worn in the Cotton Bowl. Love that classic look. Ultimately I’ll take a win in the standard home jersey!
Did a little sleuthing – you can get an image of the jersey for sale to pop up related to the team site but no working link. Wonder if it’s coming, or if there was just a tiny amount available and sold out immediately
Fun vid from the team though, that shows why we didn’t know they were coming, it was a surprise for the players too!
link
Great video link! Awesome seeing them be surprised with them.
Texas is the higher seed; presumably, they’ll wear burnt orange jerseys in the Cotton Bowl.
I spoke in haste. Texas is choosing to wear all-white. OSU in their regular home uniforms.
I thought I had seen a white version of this before. Turns out it was with a script “Buckeyes” instead of with Brutus.
link
So yeah, this might be a first.
Those Ohio State uniforms resemble the Blackhawks’ first Winter Classic uniforms.
That’s a big part of the reason that that OSU/Wisconsin women’s matchup was my favorite of the weekend.
OSU had a strong ’09 Blackhawks WC look to them, and Wisconsin kind of looked a little bit like the Red Wings in that game—fairly plain white uniform with sharp red accents.
I also really liked the PSU/ND matchup from Friday.
Baylor-LSU was definitely the aesthetic victor in Bowls Part II; the Bears’ green pants offered a great contrast to LSU’s purple jerseys. Great work, Terry, and enjoy your UW hibernation!
Loved the Ohio State women’s hockey Brutus jerseys for the Frozen Confines, which was a great-looking and super competitive event.
Baylor looked absolutely fantastic paired against the unorthodox LSU look. Their uniform upgrade this season really popped in this bowl game.
Did Oregon’s helmet keep the Rose Bowl out of the top 5?
It was one factor. Also didn’t like the plain white pants, and I tend to not put OSU on the list when they’re the visiting team. The not-silver-enough britches don’t go well with the white jerseys.
In spite of all that, I think that game and UNT/Texas State were fighting for number 6 in the Top Five.
I couldn’t agree more regarding the Bucks lack of silver pants. Bugs me to no end.
I had hoped Oregon would bust out yellow/gold pants for full contrast across the board.
NT/TSU was a sight to be held.
Enjoy that rest Terry! A shout out to all my SMUW teammates. SMUW is a Sunday morning institution because of the work you guys put in. Take a moment to recognize it and be proud of your efforts.
Thank you to all the readers that enjoy it and keep it rolling. Nothing like waking up on Sunday morning and reading it. It is a comfort away from stresses of everyday life.
It is somewhat sad for me to write the last CUUW and step out as SMUW continues the season. But I live in Canada. What can I do? We can’t play football in -30C and 3 feet of snow in Dec and Jan in most of the country. It ain’t Sunday morning hockey and curling watch! :)
“It ain’t Sunday morning hockey and curling watch! :)”
Curling watch you say…
Bulls, not Buffaloes.
I saw that this morning and forgot to fix it. Sorry about that…fixed now.
I thought the ASU/Texas game deserved a spot in the top 5, but not sure who you could bump out. I’ve long ago come to the acceptance of all the Ducks different uniforms, but for me this is one of their worst looks.
You just said it yourself. Kick out Oregon-Ohio State and put North Texas-Texas State in there. Now that was a beauty of a game!
The only thing that could have made that OSU women’s unis any better is if they had Brutus wearing skates. Oh and maybe white or red numbers on the back. A great uni from head to toe, including their individual skate guards.
As a fan of the U of Dub (go Dawgs!!) I HATE those black uniforms. They should’ve went with the purple and gold and keep it that way!!
Some great color vs color opportunities missed. Imagine Oregon in their y/g/y vs Ohio state in their s/r/s (heritage stipe top)
Washington in their g/p/g vs Louisville in their r/r/w. Louisville could have also gone w/r/w or maybe even thrown in some black, but for this one I wouldn’t have used any black.
Typo: And with that, the 2024 college football season (save for 3 games) has some to an end!
Thank you for rating Washington’s all black look where it belongs. In the trash.
Good catch. Now fixed.
Washington – Louisville was absolutely BRUTAL. Is there any power 4 school in more dire need of a redesign than the Cardinals?
Yes. Washington.
My vote is for the Cardinals.
Either Phil or Anthony might want to consider a “Redesign Louisville” contest.
Great job crew on, ending on a high note of good looking games. The top 5 was competitive– I agree with Jimmer’s picks. As an LSU fan, I cannot abide by the white helmets and purple jerseys for a bowl game- sacrilege! I also thought Illinois v. South Carolina and Texas v. Arizona state were deserving.
I’m still calling them SUNY-Buffalo
THANK YOU!
They were SUNY-B (we never referred to Binghamton that way) when I was in college, and they’ll always be SUNY B to me.