Anyone can rank uniforms. So why not me? With the exception of several schools I’m not familiar with, here are over one hundred college football teams ranked by worst uniform to best. My criteria: simple and classic is best.
What I learned: while there are ten or twelve uniforms that stand above the rest, plus another twelve that are also above-average, there are actually almost seventy schools with decent-looking uniforms. On the opposite end, I also confirmed it’s hard for teams with black and gold to come up with good-looking uniforms.
My ranking was based mostly on the uniform set most closely associated with each team. I did go my memory, which is decent when it comes to uniforms, though there may be several recent changes I have missed out on.
Deduct points for certain pet peeves: too much black, too many uniform combos, ugly number fonts, bad logos, even a facemask color that clashes with the helmet (are you listening, Georgia Tech?). Also not good: dark pants with white jerseys, especially pants without stripes.
Bad logos: it’s too much to combine the mascot and a letter. Hard to see from a distance, be it on a helmet, jersey, or coach’s shirt. You see lots of small colleges and minor league teams do this – also high schools (and clueless Georgia Tech). You rarely see this issue at major schools, or by an NFL or MLB team.
102. Northern Illinois: too much black, including pants
101. New Mexico State: too much black
100. Cincinnati: too much black. Bad logo.
99. Texas Tech: too much black.
98. Louisiana Monroe: unis look cheap.
97. Western Michigan: too dark, bad logo
96. Washington State: bad pants but nice helmets
95. Indiana: too plain
94. Kennesaw: new program had the chance to be different, but the same old thing: too much black and yellow.
93. Appalachian State: black and gold, black pants
92. Southern Miss: black and gold
91. Central Florida: black and gold
90. Purdue: black and gold
89. Army: black and gold
88. Boston College: italic numbers?
87. Arizona: too much red, too many combos.
86. Georgia State: blue pants, generic logo & unis
85. Maryland: trying too hard, forgot tradition
84. North Texas: they messed by their simple green unis
83. Rutgers: too many combos
82. Illinois: need to wear throwbacks
81. Navy: they’re trying but still mostly ugly.
80. Wake Forest: black and gold but they’re trying
79. Kansas: bad logo, nice grey masks
78. East Carolina: good logo: yellow too bright.
77. Louisville: too much black, hate the olde English L
76. NC State: hate the red facemasks
75. Utah State: generic but simple
74. Coastal Carolina: they got potential
73. Middle Tennessee: nice stripes
72. Nevada: not the same old uni
71. Colorado State: nice rams horns, too many combos
70. Houston: nice helmet, nice and simple
69. Utah: traditional but ditch the red pants
68. San Diego State: I like all the stripes
67. Vanderbilt: they’re trying to be unique
66. South Carolina: too much black
65. Colorado: traditional uni is best
64. Memphis: nice color but too many combos
63. Boise State: nice big helmet logo
62. UConn: same design as basketball
61. Alabama Birmingham: unique
60. Tulane: nice colors, different from most
59. Iowa: don’t look as good as the Steelers
58. Louisiana Tech: nice stripes
57. South Florida: different than most
56. Oregon State: nice stripes
55. Oklahoma State: nice big logo but too many combos
54. Pittsburgh: best are the 70’s throwbacks
53. Marshall: classic look
52. Hawaii: unique to their state
51. Duke: nice stripes, too much black
50. Washington: unique but I hate the dark pants
49. Missouri: decent for black and gold
48. Tulsa: nice colors and logo
47. Arkansas: mostly simple
46. Georgia Southern: simple and classic
45. Baylor: nice base uni & grey mask but too many combos
44. Georgia Tech: I hate the black masks
43. Mississippi State: their own simple look
42. Air Force: nice colors
41. California: mostly classic
40. Kentucky: nice but too much black and grey
39. Nebraska: classic but too much black
38. Wisconsin: simple but bad W logo.
37. Stanford: simple but too much black
36. Texas Christian: good except the dark pants/white jersey combo
35. SMU: love the classic striped uni
34. Arizona State: stick to the traditional uni
33. Syracuse: mostly good combos
32. Virginia: nice traditional uni with grey facemask
31. Minnesota: nice stripes
30. Brigham Young: nice colors and stripes
29. Kansas State: different but nice
28. Wyoming: different but nice
27. West Virginia: modern yet simple.
26. Virginia Tech: good look but too many combos
25. Texas A&M: simple, their own look
24. Florida: rarely changes but number trim is outdated
23. Northwestern: classic uni
22. Ole Miss: traditional with several uni sets
21. Oregon: different every week but rarely bad
20. Penn State: need grey facemasks
19. Iowa State: great stripes
18. Ohio: great stripes
17. Michigan State: simple green and white
16. North Carolina: too much black, weak number font
15. Florida State: unique but nice
14. Miami: classic unis
13. UCLA: classic stripes, grey masks
12. Auburn: classic and simple. Hate the blue masks.
11. Notre Dame: classic but they look slow
10. Ohio State: classic but too many combos
9. Tennessee: simple and classic
8. Michigan: unique, several classic looks
7. Georgia: classic and simple
6. Alabama: classic & simple, and grey masks Too plain to rank higher.
5. LSU: classic but number font weak.
4. Oklahoma: classic and simple
3. Clemson: classic, simple, bold
2. Southern Cal, classic & simple, and grey masks
1. Texas: classic and simple.
While the Longhorns aren’t my favorite school, there were certain things holding other schools back from claiming the top spot.
I left off several schools I was unfamiliar with: Texas State, Arkansas State, Troy, Idaho, Florida International, Old Dominion, Kent State, Ball State, Louisiana, New Mexico, San Jose State, Miami of Ohio, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Akron, Temple, Texas El Paso, Eastern Michigan, South Alabama, Texas San Antonio, UNC Charlotte, Toledo, Fresno State, Buffalo, UMass, Rice, UNLV, and Western Kentucky.
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