In the over 150 years of college football, there have been some awesome uniforms that make bad teams look good. Conversely, there have been some horrible uniforms that leave fans scratching their heads as to what in the world their school is doing. Here are the five best uniforms in college football, and the five worst.
One of the best: Tennessee All-Black vs. Kentucky
Say what you want, but the all-black uniform combo will always go hard. The Black with orange trim, sleeves, and numbers is one of the best jerseys in all of college football and was so popular among fans when Tennessee wore it as an alternate uniform during the 2022 season, that the school promised to wear it on a more regular basis going forward.
One of the worst: Oregon Throwback vs. Washington State
Now, if Oregon were the Leprechauns instead of the Ducks, then these uniforms would fit just fine. The throwback uniforms that Oregon wore during an October game against Washington State looked like one of the Notre Dame equipment managers made a mistake when washing jerseys and this was the result. Even the throwback logo looked like someone copied the Fighting Irish’s design. The jersey resembled the Green Bay Packers more than the Oregon Ducks. The team played like the Packers too, winning their game against the WSU Cougars. Maybe the ugly jerseys are good luck.
One of the best: FIU Miami Vice
The Miami Vice look will always be a hit, but for a Conference USA team to pull off such a look makes these uniforms all the better. The All-Black uniform with short sleeves, pink letters and blue trim around those letters is complimented by pink palm trees on the shoulders. Granted, the team lost their October 11th matchup where they wore the Miami Vice uniforms, but hey, at least they did it in style.
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One of the worst: Iowa State No pants?
Iowa State has a history of poor uniforms, from the all-red in 2002 to now having a uniform where the players don’t wear pants? Okay, well that isn’t entirely true. During a 2023 game against TCU, Iowa debuted new throwback uniforms. The jersey itself had red and grey stripes that ran up and down, but the worst part was the pants that were a golden white that matched some players’ skin color. This meant that from a broadcast view where fans couldn’t see players’ natural skin color, every Iowa State player appeared to not have any pants on. Thankfully they did have pants on, and ISU went on to beat TCU 27-14.
One of the best: Michigan State Sparta Design
The Spartans’ Green throwback uniforms might be some of the cleanest uniforms that the school has ever had. The throwback uniforms feature Greek patterns in a stripe along the middle of the helmet, and the same Greek pattern is seen going down the pants and around the shoulders. The Sparta uniforms were also made into all-white away uniforms with the same pattern combination but in grey.
One of the worst: Oregon State Cream Away Uniforms
Shout out to the Beavers for being one of two teams left in the Pac-12 conference, but their away uniforms are just not okay. The layout of the jersey is weird, as the numbers have an awkward shape to them and look blocky. But the worst part of all is the cream color that dominates the pants and jersey. Even when the jerseys are physically clean, they look dirty, and OSU should consider new uniforms when they decide on a new conference.
One of the best: Ohio State Grey Alternate
The Ohio State University may have the coolest alternate uniforms in the Big Ten. In the right lighting, the all-grey alternate looks silver, and players literally look like they are shining. The letters are bright red with white trim. The uniforms debuted on Twitter in July of 2023, and the team is set to wear them against Michigan State in November of 2023.
One of the worst: Washington State All-red
In a game against the University of Arizona, Washington State University debuted a new all-red uniform that hurt to look at. The jersey and pants were the same shade of bright red, while the helmet that the team wore was also red. The team colors are crimson and grey, so fans were surprised and a little confused to see the Cougs rocking the bright red. Fans were also confused to see their team lose 44-6 at home that week but that’s beside the point. Bad uniforms and bad games go hand in hand (unless you’re Oregon apparently).
One of the best: University of Alabama-Birmingham
University of Alabama Birmingham is playing in a new conference, and with a new conference comes new threads. UAB has two new uniform combinations that made fans’ jaws drop. A sleek all-black uniform with green numbers, and an equally as awesome grey with green numbers. The white helmets feature the signature Dragon logo in a light green color for the grey jerseys and a black dragon for the black jerseys.
One of the worst: University of Minnesota, Literally Anything With Yellow
The Golden Gophers have had a historically hard time reflecting the “golden” part of their name in their uniform combinations. Every time the team attempts to have “gold” on their uniforms, it comes out as yellow, and it looks like a bunch of number two pencils are running around on the field. Minnesota has over 100 combinations of uniforms, but any of their combos with yellow just look atrocious. In 2018 the Gophers unveiled new uniforms; while they do dive deep into school history these uniforms are proof that history should not repeat itself.
