Adidas Loses 2 Premier Schools; Adds 2 More

Adidas shocked the college football world recently by announcing their addition of Miami (FL) as a member school. Miami has long had ties with Nike and was one of their first premier schools, revolutionizing the equipment landscape with “The U Swagger.” A new age is coming upon the Hurricanes as the cut the ties of their iconic relationship with Nike. So what does Adidas have to offer Miami? The specific details have not been released but it is speculated that the deal is worth $90 million over 12 years. Here is what Adidas has released thus far. I do not expect either of these to hit the field. The brand just had to put something out there to appease the fans.

The cleats are a bit outrageous but I find the uniform to be too simple for Miami. Both are purely concepts at this point. This, however, I hope to never see again:

Best/Worst Uniform Match-Ups: Week 10

I just want to start by swallowing my pride a little bit. I expected the Florida State/Louisville game to look TERRIBLE…. But I was wrong. Florida State altered their uniforms a bit to the point where they actually look good. Louisville wore special adidas uniforms that definitely looked better in action.

Fixing Florida State

Winning 23 straight games, Florida State has been the most successful team in college football over the past 2 years. With success comes scrutiny and they have received their share of scrutiny, deservedly so. FSU has had multiple scandals involving players, most notably Jameis Winston. But we’re not gonna get into that. This season, the Seminoles received new uniforms from Nike with collaboration from the local Seminole Tribe leaders. Recently, Native American mascots in sports have come under fire from the tribes. Florida State is one of the few teams that has gained approval of their tribe. The school and the tribal leaders got together and came up with a new logo and wordmarks along with new uniforms for each sport in order to preserve the likeness and tradition of the Seminole Tribe.

Best/Worst Uniform Match-Ups: Week 9

8. Yale vs Penn – Great Ivy League match-up. Yale’s uniforms are classic. The pants are a bit strange, but I can deal with it. Penn’s uniforms are unique. They have that weird Nike chest stripe. They wore their blue helmets with gray pants. I thought it was a good look 1 on 1. It’s nice to give the small schools some attention.

Death By Chrome

First, there was matte. Then, there was chrome. It’s becoming the hottest trend in college football. Mostly on helmets, chrome is a shiny, metallic finish. It can be a really good look for some teams, but most of the time, it looks pretty terrible. Adidas has even used chrome numbers and decals on jerseys  (looks terrible).

Schools in the MAC and Sun Belt feature much more chrome than the larger programs. Oregon wears chrome almost everyweek. Chrome is finding its way into the more tradional programs like Michigan State and USC. Both teams have worn chrome helmets recently.

Best/Worst Uniform Match-Ups: Week 8

8. Utah vs Oregon State –  Utah went full stormtrooper. Their all-white look is great. I’m a big fan of the red, white and black color scheme. Oregon State wore semi-chrome orange helmets with orange jerseys and black pants. The numbers on the helmets sold me on this combo. Great job by both teams. Utah went on to win in 2OT.

Back Story: Donald Duck and The Gray Ghost

In the next 2 weeks, Illinois and Oregon will be wearing very special uniforms. Both universities have teamed with Nike to come up with not only attractive uniforms but uniforms with significance. For Illinois, they will be honoring not the greatest player in their history but one of the greatest to ever play: Red “The Gray Ghost” Grange. For Oregon, they will be honoring one of the best seasons and biggest plays in school history: Kenny Wheaton’s Pick-6 “The Pick” that led to the team’s berth in the 1994/1995 Rose Bowl.

Best/Worst Uniform Match-Ups of Week 7

October 9 – 11

Best:

8. Cincinnati (White/White/Red) vs. Miami (White/Orange/White) – Cincinnati wore their white helmets with new red chrome decals. The red socks and white shoes worked very well with the jersey/pants combo. Miami went classic in their orange on white. They also stuck with their classic helmets rather than one of their 3 new ones for this season.