2011 Sam Houston State Bearkats

2011

Sam Houston State Bearkats

Southland

After watching both Montana schools fall in the FCS playoffs, I thought I would cover the team opposite of North Dakota State in the National Championship game. The sad truth is that FCS teams don't get the respect they deserve, so it was really hard to find most of these pictures. Sam Houston has a really simple look, and that's good here. The helmet is orange with a white face mask to balance. The jerseys are simple and effective. I wish they could have names on the back of the uniform. I think I should also mention that Sam Houston State is the first team to get my "Poor Literacy is Kewl" hatred. (Thanks Linkara!) Seriously, cats with a "K"? I don't get it. The pants strip is a bit off, I guess I like my pant strips to be a sold consistent line, but it works. The team colors are to include blue, but I don't see any, unless that black really is a really, really dark blue, but I doubt it.

Helmet: A

Home Jersey: A

Away Jersey: A

Pants: A-

Final Verdict:

As Is

Honestly, not too much to say here. It's simple, but not unique. All things considered, I like it and hope they can keep this for a while.

And for those of you paying attention, I will review "special" or pro combat uniforms separately. So I will review the camo jerseys soon.

2011 Vanderbilt Commodores

 2011 

Vanderbilt Commodores 

SEC

 

 

Vanderbilt is one of those teams I feel sorry for. They are stuck in a state dominated by the Volunteers and a city dominated by the Titans. Frankly, after spending some time in Nashville, Vandy is little than an afterthought to the football population. And that is not helped by their uniforms. Oh my what a mess! First the good. The helmet is great. Its simple, has the logo and modest stripes, and as always the anchor helmet stickers are great! The jersey though, ugh! Its very generic and has odd striping. It looks unbalanced and weird. Plus there is very little gold. Vandy is not getting the BFBS stamp, because black is part of their color scheme. That being said, why not any gold? The gold jerseys are great and I do like how they match the black jerseys. The pants are good, both black and white, but why no gold pants? I feel that any team with a gold and black color scheme should always have gold pants. I do like how Vandy can have multiple combinations, but again gold needs to be used more. The black helmet is OK at best, don't really like it, but don't really hate it. So far my favorite combination is the gold helmet, white jersey, and white pants. Again too much black and not enough gold.

Helmet: A (gold), B (black)

Home Jersey: C (black), B (gold)

Away Jersey: B

Pants: A (white) A (black)

Final Verdict:

Tweak

I was going to give Vandy my first "overhaul" verdict, but then I decided not to. After looking at the pictures and going over it some more, the only thing that really bugs me is the jersey. If Vandy can drop the piping and add Vandy to the front, then it would be fine. But as it stands, just work on the jerseys and they will be good.

2011 Northwestern Wildcats

2011

Northwestern Wildcats

B1G

I'm not really sure how to feel about the Northwestern uniforms. I will give Northwestern the BFBS tag. Last I checked their colors were purple and white. And yes I am aware that historically they have had black pants and jerseys in the past, but that doesn't excuse the fact that they should not have be wearing black. The helmet is good. Nice purple shell, and I always love helmet stickers. The face mask being black works, sometimes, but it should be purple or white. The away jersey is a thing of beauty! I just wish it said "Northwestern" on the front, that would make it perfect! The home jersey, not too bad, black is used a little on the sleeve, but Northwestern would be better to just make all the stripes white. Plus both jerseys could use numbers on the shoulders. White pants equal beauty, black pants equal ugly. Odd there is no conference patch. I am one of the few fans of the new B1G logo, and I do think that they should add it on the uniform.

Helmet: A-

Home Jersey: B

Away Jersey: A-

Pants: A+ (white) F (black)

Final Verdict:

Tweak

I really do like this uniform. They just need to drop the black and replace it with purple and white. Add a white or purple face mask, turn the black stripes on the home jersey to purple, and add "Northwestern" to the front of the uniforms and it would be great. But as it stands, Northwestern could stand to improve.

2011 FAU Owls

2011

Florida Atlantic Owls

Sun Belt

 

Lets go ahead and start with a positive review.

Its not easy to make a red and blue uniform. The problem is that you may use too much blue or too much red and no one is sure which is the primary color. FAU seems to use blue more than red, but finds a great balance between the two. I love the white helmet. FAU is very simple and sleek. A traditional look, but not boring like other classic looks. Having only white pants also helps balance it and gives it a clean look. I also like how you can barley see the Adidas logo, which is always nice, but there is that generic NCAA conference logo. I like how they use the FAU logo, as opposed to writing it out or just spelling Florida Atlantic to begin with. Makes it look less busy and that's always good. And one final note, I like how the helmet bumper says "Owls", that to me is the best place for it, as "FAU" is greater than "Owls".

Helmet: A+

Home Jersey: A

Away Jersey: A

Pants: A

Final Verdict:

As Is

The uniform is great. I don't see any changes that they need to be made. Perhaps a red alternate, but other than that, I can't complain.

Review Criteria

I'm going to set some guidelines on how and what I review. These are my established rules/guidelines that you should expect to see every time I review.:

• My reviews are currently going to be limited to NCAA Division I football teams. That will include all FBS (Bowl Subdivision) and FCS (Championship Subdivision) teams. Granted I will branch out and may cover NFL, Arena, NAIA, semi pro teams, etc., as special or "bonus" reviews, but starting out, I will focus on about the 246 teams across Division I.
• I will base my reviews on 3 different outcomes:

1. As Is: Meaning the uniform is fine just as it is. One or two minor details may be changed to be "perfect", but over all, a design the school should keep for years to come.
2. Tweak: Uniform is missing a few elements to be overall great. Maybe adding numbers on the sleeves, changing the helmet logo, or changing the face mask color. Its only a few steps away from being "As Is".
3. Overhaul: This is for when a team's uniform is a complete mess! Everything is wrong about it and the team needs to re brand, reboot, redesign, or just start from the ground up.

• In addition I will be giving a letter grading scale of A, B, C, D, and F.

• There are many things that bother me about some uniforms. Little things that really don't seem to be a big deal to some, but to me it is. The following is a list of things that bug me, that I will mention in my review, but I won't let it have a lot of bearing on my final review.

1. Grey face masks. I just don't like them, its a relic of old football that has no place in current uniforms. However, silver/grey helmets with grey face masks are acceptable. (ie. Dallas Cowboys, Kansas State)
2. Lack of player names on jerseys. Kinda nitpicky I know, but there is always something special about having your name on the back of your jersey. I just feel that some players are loosing out on that sense of pride in one's last name.
3. Corporate logos on uniforms. I really hate it when a uniform has a Nike or Under Armor or Reebok logo on the front and lacks anything else. I think there is a time and place to have a Nike logo, but on the front of your jersey next to your school logo, is NOT one of those places.
4. Generic NCAA conference patches. I think there should be a lot of pride in one's conference, whether your in the ACC or the Big Sky. That being said, the NCAA has those triangle-with-a-football- generic-logos that most teams have. I really don't like those. Conference patches should be like what the MAC, WAC, and PAC-12 have, unique and bold.
5. Tramp Stamps. All I'm going to say is it is wrong to have to look at a player's butt to know what school they played for. (ie Virginia, Auburn).
6. School/Mascot names on front of uniforms. It just bugs me that some teams have their mascot on the front of their uniforms instead of their school. Your uniform should have the name of your school and not your mascot. (ie "Kent State" over "Flashes")

That covers everything, except for:

BFBS!

Yes I really hate this. For those of you not familiar, BFBS means "Black for Black Sake". A term coined by Uni Watch. This means that a team adds a black helmet, black jersey, black pants or black whatever to their uniform when its not part of their school colors. For example, Ohio State is scarlet and grey. Therefore those should be their colors. Granted they can use black as an accent to help the numbers pop on their uniforms or define the strips, but Ohio State should NEVER have a black jersey, helmet or pants. So yes, if a team is guilty of BFBS, they they will not receive a "good" review.

So I think I stated my rules and guidelines pretty well. This may change over time, but I will hold myself accountable to this list as best I can.

So... here we go!

Welcome to NCAA Uniform Reviews!

Greetings this Holiday Season! I am crimsonbull9584. This is my first blog ever, and I hope that I can do it well. I am currently a college student and work for an FCS football team as a videographer. Now, I am not an X's and O's kind of guy. I can't tell you how the West Coast offense works, or how the Wildcat is superior to the Spread or anything like that. What I can tell you, is that I love uniforms. The very basic aesthetics of football has always interested me. So I am going to give you my thoughts on what uniforms I like, love, and hate. I will soon release a rating system and try to get as many teams as I can as soon as I can. But I warn you, I am married, going to school full time, and working part time, so I may not be as quick as some may like, but I will try to do a good job within a reasonable time. My plan is to cover every FBS and FCS team (that's 246 teams if you didn't know) and as many other teams as I can. I hope to do Division II and Division III, but that will take time. I will go in no particular order and I will take requests to do uniform reviews. I will also review by year. Such as, if I review the 2011 Utah State football uniforms now, and then they change their uniforms next season, I will release a post with 2012 Utah State football uniforms, that way I can be current. Well I think that is enough exposition. Again, I will release my review standards and start getting a few reviews up soon. And if you have any requests please e-mail me, my e-mail address is on the page, and feel free to leave comments, but please keep them PG. Thank you and I hope I can do a good job!