Uniform Frenzy

There is a new trend in college football that I'm sure a lot of people have witnessed. The uniforms they are getting crazier and crazier every day. Whether it be matte black helmets, chrome gold helmets, Louisville's terrible helmet design, or Louisville's awesome helmet design. Almost every major school has either switched to a new base uniform, or added several new alternate uniforms. I sort of remember what I recall as the start of it when Oregon started changing their uniforms every game back about 5 years ago. Then I believe in 2011 one of the first college games of the season Maryland emerged from the locker room wearing crazy "pride" uniforms that were supposed to represent the state flag. I recall the sports center hosts were completely baffled by the jerseys, and the uniforms ended up getting more attention than the actual game.

But nowadays it is a common occurrence (not for my team really, although Iowa has announced an alternate blackout uniform vs Minnesota) and no one really bats an eye at the crazy uniform combinations being created. Some of the uniforms are absolutely gorgeous, see Arizona State's grey uniforms, or Arizona State's throwback jerseys,  the Ole Miss powder blue, or Baylor's chrome kit. And some are simply terrible, see Colorado State's weird alternates, these unsymmetrical Notre Dame alternates, uniforms from Kansas which may have been cancelled they were so ugly, and just to poke fun at Iowa State, these. 

There are a couple reasons why these teams continue to pump out new combinations. One is for recruiting, having really cool uniforms like Oregon or Arizona State will impress the recruits more than say bland Penn State and Iowa uniforms. Some recruits will care more than others, but it's one more thing that a team can do to help themselves with recruiting. The other reason would be for publicity, whether it be within your fan base or throughout the country. It's fun for the fans of a team when a new uniform is announced, although it seems that whenever Iowa comes out with a new uniform all the older fans grumble about liking the regular uniforms better. Also it's never a bad thing to gain a new fan, and if the uniform leaves a good impression on someone they might recognize your team and maybe even become a fan.

It doesn't really matter what the reason is for making a new uniform, but it seems like if you aren't coming out with new looks, then you're behind the times.