unis

Unicorns? Unitards? Unicycles? Non, mes amis - uniforms!
Today's List is a special one, because as promised a couple weeks ago, it is brought to you by a guess blogger! The List is fantastic, combining sports and fashion. Our guest blogger is none other than ... G! Known for his extensive knowledge of everything sports, he has a profound gift for commenting on just the right things, often just as the Sportscenter analyst or play-by-play announcer has the same thought on the tip of his/her tongue. This post probably has some of the most factually valid content on this blog thus far. It is my pleasure to present his first of hopefully numerous guest postings.

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== TOP 6 UNIFORMS IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL ==

There has been a lot of talk and buzz recently about uniforms in college football thanks to the unis worn by The University of Maryland earlier this month:

 

(photo cred: here)

My personal opinion is that these unis are terrible, mostly because of the seizure inducing helmet.  The jersey is actually pretty cool but a solid color helmet with an image of the terrapin would have worked better.  These radical uniform designs are a new and unstoppable trend in college football and intended to increase fan interest and of course revenue through increased jersey sales.

Its important to note that most of the schools that are choosing to go the radical route for uniforms are schools without a rich tradition in football.  If that's what these schools need to do to garner attention to their programs, then so be it.  Call me a traditionalist, but you deserve attention for winning. Or you can be like Notre Dame and get media adoration for blowing leads, losing big games, losing not so big games and getting over hyped year after year.  

With that being said, here are my top six uniforms in college football. You'll notice that most of the unis have largely gone unchanged through the years and are accompanied by success on the field as well (with one notable exception, see team that appears at No. 4).  

No. 1 MICHIGAN

(photo cred: here)

While this is a picture of their retro throwback unis, the classic winged helmet is still worn and the maize and blue color combo looks great.

No. 2 PENN STATE

(photo cred: here)

Basically unchanged throughout the years, this is a classic uniform that I actually found boring as a little kid.  While I think the white jerseys aren't a good look with the white pants, the navy blue jerseys with the white pants and white helmet that has only a blue stripe down the middle is classic college football.  The only thing they could do to make this uni better is using a gray face mask grill instead of the blue one they currently use.

No. 3.  ALABAMA

(photo cred: here)

Yet another classic example of a uni that has not changed through the years.  Unlike Penn State, they utilize the gray face mask grill and also put the players numbers on the sides of the helmet.  The numbers on the side of the helmet are such a little detail that adds a lot, that as far as I can think are only used by Alabama and occasionally by the San Diego Chargers when they wear their powder blue throwbacks.

No. 4 NOTRE DAME

(photo cred: here)

It should be noted that NAVY used to wear unis that were very similar to this classic looking uniform but the gold helmets (where real gold is actually sprayed into the helmets) and navy blue jerseys are instantly recognizable as belonging to Notre Dame.  

No. 5 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 

(photo cred: here)

The scarlet and gold color combo looks great with the helmets that have gone, for the most part, unchanged except for a brief period in the late 80's - early 90's where they had a scarlet face mask grill.  The logo on the side of the helmet is a basic but classic profile of a Trojan.  Common theme among all these teams on the list so far?  Unchanged through the years.  With all the new unis being sported by schools nowadays, its nice to know you can count on continuity and consistency when it comes to these top 5 teams.

No. 6 UNIVERSITY OF OREGON

(photo cred: here)

The sole school on this list to have unis that are not considered "Traditional."  Nike founder Phil Knight is an Oregon grad and huge booster to the school. Oregon benefits from this by having top notch athletic facilities and cool unis for the football team.  Oregon has at least 513 different helmet, jersey and pant combinations and Nike has designed some of the unis to actually make the team look faster by placing bright colors around the athletes fastest moving parts (shins, feet and wrists).  The neon yellow works well with either the schools traditional green and often used black or gray.  Since the inception of these multi-combination unis, Oregon football has also improved their performance on the field, becoming consistent challengers to win the Pac 10/12 and making it all they way to the NCAA championship game last year.  Coincidence??