Style Archive: Gridiron Edition

2008-09-10T06:59:13-04:00

2008-08-26T18:12:10-04:00

2008-09-10T06:38:28-04:00

2008-09-01T00:46:02-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/155/793/thumb/poll04_paulie.jpg 25 NJ

JerseySpartan

Bridgewater 156093

Michigan State's jersey introduced in 2007 is a nice retro jersey 2632035

2008-08-27T14:26:59-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/407/847/thumb/1185421530773.jpg 206 VA

conesy

Springfield 408287

Personally I like Cincy's the best 2602812

2008-08-27T12:03:32-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/279/34/thumb/tx_robinson_ap.jpg 15 CA

Highway61

Los Angeles 27974

Stanford fans (myself included) are very excited that the black highlights on the jerseys, pants and helments have been removed. Check them out this Thursday vs. Oregon St. Very classic. 2600367

2008-08-26T21:19:11-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/769/10/thumb/justin_beaver.jpg 1543 WI

badgerfan07 back in business

Whitewater 77210

Hmm..I like Cincy's too..that's pretty cool. 2594707

By Luke Winn, SI.comA couple of years ago over in my college basketball blog, I launched a project called <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_blogs/basketball/ncaa/2006/11/style-archive-2007-08-edition.html">the Style Archive</a>, which attempted to catalog noteworthy hoops fashion periodically during the season. Trivial as it was (and still probably is), the Archive was popular enough to become a recurring feature. This year I've been enlisted to help with The Sweep, so the Archive, at least for this week, moves over to the gridiron. College football jersey changes aren't the easiest thing to track. The principal apparel dealers -- Nike, Adidas and Under Armour -- are constantly making small tweaks that don't have huge impacts on teams' overall aesthetics (see Tennessee's <a href="http://3rdsaturdayinblogtober.wordpress.com/2008/07/17/3sib-exclusive-new-tennessee-vols-road-uniforms/">new pants stripe</a>, which is not the hugest deal). I scoured the Internets for more significant uni-changes, and thanks to a few key sources, namely team sites, posters on the NCAA strategies message board's <a href="http://ncaastrategies.com/utopia/showthread.php?t=56187">uniform thread</a> and Paul Lukas' <a href="http://www.uniwatchblog.com">UniWatch Blog</a>, came up with short lists of the best and worst. First, the Good: <img title="SMU" src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/images/08/25/t1_winnsmu.jpg" border="0" height="150" hspace="10" align="left" alt="SMU" width="150" /> 1. Whitecaps at SMUOne of June Jones' early orders of business as new head coach was to revive the white helmets from SMU's glory days. They may have some NCAA Death Penalty connotations, but they're a big improvement from '07's navy domes.  <img title="Oregon State" src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/images/08/25/t1_winnosu.jpg" border="0" height="150" hspace="10" align="left" alt="Oregon State" width="150" /> 2. Oregon State, simplifiedAfter committing one of the biggest style atrocities of all time in '07 -- with the <a href="http://www.osubeavers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4700&ATCLID=877632">bra-strap jerseys</a> -- the Beavers bounced back in a big way with this stripped-down Nike look. It's a little Bears-ish, but it's classy.<img title="Virginia Tech" src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/images/08/25/t1_winnvt.jpg" border="0" height="150" hspace="10" align="left" alt="Virginia Tech" width="150" /> 3. Retro Virginia TechThe Hokies wore these white helmets from 1971-73, and are breaking them out again for <a href="http://www.hokiesports.com/football/recaps/20080418aaa.html">their home opener</a> against Furman -- along with retro jerseys patched together with elements from three different eras past in Blacksburg.<img title="Hawaii" src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/images/08/25/t1_winnhawaii.jpg" border="0" height="150" hspace="10" align="left" alt="Hawaii" width="150" /> 4. Hawaii traditionNew outfitter Under Armour <a href="http://media.www.kaleo.org/media/storage/paper872/news/2008/04/24/Sports/Warriors.Keep.Traditional.Designs.In.New.Under.Armour.Uniforms-3346772.shtml">was gracious enough</a> not to make the Warriors conform to a standard jersey template. Tapa patterns are still on the sleeves, and the signature font is still present; the only negative is the lack of Tapa on the pants.<img title="Cincinnati" src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/images/08/25/t1_winncincy.jpg" border="0" height="150" hspace="10" align="left" alt="Cincinnati" width="150" /> 5. Bear-clawed at UCThese new clawed-design pants probably aren't going to go over very well with the general sporting populace, but I like them. They feel very Cincinnati-ish, and really, it was time for someone to buck the plain-old-pants trend.Check back later for the Bad/Ugly ... 1293

The Sweep

New York 479813