Sunday Morning Bowl Watch

By Phil Hecken

Well folks — the Bowls have come and are now gone (except for the “CFP National Championship” game between #1 Clemson and #2 Alabama– on January 11th). But the 40 “Bowl” games are now in the books. Last weekend, we took a look at the first 18 of those…today we conclude with the final 22.

Perhaps the biggest uniform news of the bowl season occurred not on the actual field of play, but on the sidelines, as Texas Christian coach Gary Patterson, who started the game wearing a black visor and shirt, changed into a purple visor and shirt at halftime. Why the switch? Well, TCU, with their stud quarterback Trevone Boykin suspended due to a bar fight, found themselves down 31-0 against Oregon in last evening’s Alamo Bowl. Seeking a change in momentum (and risking the wrath of the uni gods), Patterson changed out of his (non-school color) BFBS visor/shirt and into what Paul lovingly deems the “accursed color of death” (a/k/a purple — an actual school color). It was one of the most momentous uni-related decisions in the history of ever.

The Horned Frogs of TCU stormed back to tie the game in regulation, and went on to win the game in triple-overtime, by a score of 47-41. That tied the largest comeback in the history of all the Bowl games ever played, and was the largest comeback of the 2015-16 season. Clearly, wearing school colors pleased the uniform gods, and they blessed the move with gusto. Well played, Gary Patterson…well played.

On that note, I’ll now turn the post over to Terry Duroncelet, who has been my right-hand man for many many years of Sunday Morning Uniform Watching. This will be his final post for the season. I hope you’ll all give him a big “THANKS” in the comments at the end of this post. OK? OK!

And now, here’s TJ with your final…

. . .

Sunday Morning Bowl Watch
By Terry Duroncelet

And so, we have come to the end of the 2015 season. All but one of the games (Bama vs. HyperOrange) have been played, the highlights archived. Let’s get right into it:

~Monday, December 28th, 2015:

• Navy vs. Pitt: University of Pittsburgh in a in mono-white with gold helmets, and the Midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy capped off their successful season by reprising the Army/Navy 2015 uniforms, which I like for the most part, but the numbers feel like a missed opportunity (here’s what they should look like, IMO).

• Central Michigan vs. Minnesota: The Maroon ‘n’ Yeller Bowl. Central Michigan University’s Chippewas in maroon/white/white, and the Golden Gophers of the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities) in gold/maroon/gold. For what was a scrimmage game in spirit, this didn’t look too bad. Kudos to both teams for understanding the concept of contrast.

~Tuesday, December 29th, 2015:

• Air Force vs. Cal: The Golden Bears of the University of California (Berkeley)… didn’t look so golden in their game against the United States Air Force Academy Falcons. Seriously Cal, some gold pants would’ve really livened things up. Meanwhile, Air Force took “boys in blue” to a new level. I like.

• Baylor vs. North Carolina: Baylor University arrived to the scene in in black/green/black, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Tar Heels dressed in all-white. A great uniform for a successful Tar Heels team, even if they didn’t get the result they wanted in the end.

• Nevada vs. Colorado St.: The University of Nevada (Reno) Wolf Pack in white/navy/white, and the Colorado State University Rams in green/white/white.

• Texas Tech vs. LSU: The Texas Tech University Red Raiders wore all-black with red chrome facemasks, and nothing short of a timeless look for the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical 7200RPM Hard Drive College Bengal Tigers.

~Wednesday, December 30th, 2015:

• Memphis vs. Auburn: Two tigers fighting for glory. You’re both brothers, why partake in such violence? Anyway, we have the University of Memphis Tigers in black/blue/black, and the Auburn University Tigers in all-white.

• NC State vs. Mississippi St.: Here’s a name I don’t think I’ve said yet: The Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science Bulldogs. They wore maroon helmets and jerseys with grey pants. They played against the North Carolina State University at Raleigh Wolfpack, who wore… uh… I guess carbon-red/white/anthracite?

• Louisville vs. Texas A&M: Nothing really inspiring about the white/red/red that the University of Louisville Cardinals sported. At least the all-white worn by the Texas A&M University Aggies was understated enough without being boring.

• Wisconsin vs. USC: The University of Wisconsin-Madison Badgers wore white/red/white in their contest against the University of Southern California Trojans, who dressed in cardinal/white/gold.

~Thursday, December 31st, 2015:

• Houston vs. Florida St.: The Florida State University Seminoles wore a seldom-seen combination: gold helmets with mono-garnet uniforms. They played against the white-clad University of Houston Cougars.

• Clemson vs. Oklahoma: Well, the Clemson University Tigers definitely dressed for the occasion. They faced off in two semifinal games on the night against the University of Oklahoma Sooners in their traditional road whites.

• Alabama vs. Michigan St.: A rather one-sided game compliments of the University of Alabama Crimson Tide (who wore something completely outlandish and out of their usual fare). I do wish that the Michigan State University Spartans wore green pants in this game instead.

~Friday, January 1st, 2016:

• Tennessee vs. Northwestern: In our first football game of 2016, we have The University of Tennessee (Knoxville) Volunteers facing off against the Northwestern University Wildcats. White/orange/white and purple/white/white, respectively. Jerry Kulig notes that Northwestern’s helmets had each player’s number on one side.

• Florida vs. Michigan: Fun fact: the University of Florida Gators played against the University of Michigan Wolverines in Michigan’s final game as a Nike school (at that time), so it’s only fitting that they meet once again in Michigan’s final game as an Adidas school. Florida wore orange/blue/white, and Michigan wore navy/white/white.

• Notre Dame vs. Ohio St.: In one of my favorite matchups of the bowl season, we have the University of Notre Dame du Lac Fighting Irish in their classic Golden Domes, navy jerseys, and gold pants. They played against The Ohio State University Buckeyes and their usual grey/white/grey attire. And please refer to this link for why there are no player names this time around for Notre Dame. It should also be noted that these two teams have met in this game before.

• Iowa vs. Stanford: The Rose Bowl Game. Never fails to entertain. Never fails to get someone in the New Year’s spirit. This year’s contest was between the Hawkeyes of the University of Iowa in their glorious Steeler doppelganger home uniforms, and the Leland Stanford Junior University Cardinal in equally-resplendent white. Definitely my favorite matchup of the bowl season. Now if only we could do something about this yahoo.

• Ole Miss vs. Oklahoma St.: I think I’ll always have a soft spot for the light blue helmets that the University of Mississippi Rebels wear. The lids were accompanied with red jerseys and grey pants. The Cowboys of Oklahoma State University-Stillwater wore black/white/black, which I didn’t really agree with at first, but quickly changed my tone after seeing the matchup on the field.

~Saturday, January 2nd, 2016:

• Penn St. vs. Georgia: The University of Georgia Bulldogs and the Pennsylvania State University Nittany Lions played in about as traditional-looking of a game as you can expect: red/red/silver, and all-white, respectively. During the game, the graphics team capped off a collective gold star season by using the Georgia State flag in place of Georgia’s logo when showing the Penn State/Georgia game. I think an award is in order. Here’s to the 2015 season. Credit to Jeremy Meyer for the game pic.

• Kansas St. vs. Arkansas: The Kansas State University Wildcats in their tried-and-true grey/purple/grey, and the University of Arkansas broke out some shiny red chrome helmets, paired with a mono-white uniform.

• TCU vs. Oregon: I can’t believe this game went down the way it did. The Texas Christian University Horned Frogs showed us all why college football is so great. They wore purple/purple/white, and the University of Oregon Ducks in a new white uniform.

• West Virginia vs. Arizona St.: In the 2016 edition of the Cactys Bow, the West Virginia University Mountaineers and the Arizona State University Sun Devils wore navy/white/navy and maroon/maroon/black, respectively. C’mon, no gold pants?

*Mike Johnston voice* THAT’S A WRAP!! Thank you all for stopping by for another action-packed college football season. With that said, this will be my last SMUW column… with this laptop (not my actual photo). For those who don’t know, I’ve had this computer (an HP G72 17.3 laptop originally purchased on November 11th, 2010) for over 5 years, and is in desperate need of replacing. I’ve been working on getting components for a new computer, and by the time football starts back up again, I’ll have a new system for a multitude of tasks, including Sunday Morning Uni Watch 2016. Thank you all for reading, and you can expect next season to be even better. As always, see you in 8 months.

. . .

Thanks TJ — and thanks for another great season…especially when we consider the antiquated equipment on which you’ve been working all season. Well done, sir. Take a deserved breath, and bow. Enjoy your well-earned time off!

NCAA Uni Tracking

Back again today with the uniform tracking for the costumes worn by all five Power 5 conferences in their respective Bowl Games.

We’ve got Rex Henry (tracking the ACC & SEC), Dennis Bolt (tracking the PAC-12), and Kyle Acker (tracking the Big XII), as they have all season. I’m pleased to announce I was able to enlist the assistance of a new tracker for the B1G — Davis Vinckier, whose graphic for the B1G you’ll see today. Everyone please welcome Davis aboard.

BIG BIG thanks to all of these fine gentlemen (especially the three who were with us all season long). Make sure you thank them in the comments below, OK? OK!

And now, for the final set of NCAA Uni Tracking for 2015(16), here are Rex, Dennis, Kyle and Davis (you can click any of the images to enlarge):

+ + + + + + + + + +

Rex is up first today:

. . .

ACC

More Here.

. . .

SEC

. . .

And now, here’s Dennis with the PAC-12:

PAC-12

More here.

Here is your link to the 2015-16 Duck Tracker.

. . .

And here is Kyle with the Big XII:

Big XII

. . .

And finally, here’s Davis the B1G:

B1G

. . .

And that will wrap up the 2015-16 season — again, big thanks to Rex, Dennis, Kyle, and now Davis for their efforts. I hope to expand the NCAA Football tracking next year (possibly to include all[?] FBS teams), but that’s something I’ll revisit next August. The guys definitely did an outstanding job this year, so please, give them all a virtual “thanks” down below.

Joe Ringham’s 5 & 1 – SPECIAL Bowl Edition

Well — it’s been a long season, but the end is here (well, almost — there’s still that pesky CFP National Championship game to be played on January 11th), and I’m back again with Joe Ringham for his final 5 & 1 for the Bowl Season. Last week, Joe gave us his top 5 and 1 bad (with some honorable mentions thrown in for good measure) for the first 18 bowls, and today he’s back with his 5 & 1 for the second 22 bowls of the 2015-16 season. There were some good looking games played this past week, so let’s see what he picked.

Here’s Joe:

. . .

Greetings, everyone, and a Happy New Year to all! If you missed my list last week for the first half of the bowl season, here it is. Now, on to the back half of the bowl schedule and, damn, were there some good looking games this last week (even if the results on the field weren’t as pretty). So, for the final time this season…

5) Gator Bowl: Penn State vs Georgia — The game I won’t call the Taxslayer Bowl was such a dandy to look at. The Dawgs looked sharp in their usual home red/red/gray. Meanwhile, Penn State rocked their classic, simple mono-white road look to perfection.

4) Rose Bowl: Stanford vs Iowa — Outside of the score, this was a beauty of a game in Pasadena. The Cardinal looked fantastic in their mono-white, and everyone should know by now how I feel about the Hawkeyes’ unis.

3) Fiesta Bowl: Ohio State vs Notre Dame — Two of the college games’ most classic looking uniforms, in my opinion, squaring off here. Even though I personally don’t care for both teams, they both looked incredibly sharp in the desert.

2) Sugar Bowl: Oklahoma State vs Mississippi — I thought this was the best-looking game out of the New Years 6 games. Loved OSU going black/white/black, and it matched up very well against Ole Miss’s blue/red/gray. If only the action on the field itself matched the way the game looked.

1) Holiday Bowl: USC vs Wisconsin — Something about this game just made it immediately stand out to me as the best looking game of the bowl season’s back half. Southern Cal’s simple, flawlessly basic road red/white/yellow looked fabulous against the Badgers’ simple white/red/white home look. So simple, yet such a good looking game.

And, finally…

+1) Quick Lane Bowl: Central Michigan vs Minnesota — This looked too much like an intrasquad game for my liking.

That will wrap things up for here for the season. Thanks to everyone for reading all season long, and a tip of the cap to Phil for letting me be a part of the SMUW crew this season. Enjoy both the FCS and CFP Championship games, everyone, and I will see you guys in August!

__________

Thanks, Joe! I may not have always agreed with your choices, but you did a great job bringing us the 5 & 1 (on time and under budget) every weekend this fall!

So, How’d I Do?

Last weekend I shared with you my W/L record on the first 18 bowls — it wasn’t great (but not horrible either) as I coasted home with an 8-10 mark. The final 22 bowls are now in the books. Here’s how I did picking the bowls (by choosing the team with the better overall uniform set for the 2015 season) for the 2015-16 Bowls (Wins in Blue; Losses in Red). As you can see, my second half was about the same as the first half. Ah well. At least in the CorC, I still have a chance.

Finished the season with 19 wins and 21 losses:

[table id=28 /]

Uni Watch News Ticker

Baseball News: Major crossover alert (also posted in NBA section)! Ever wonder what Dirk Nowitzki would look like playing baseball? Wonder no more (nice find from Seth Shaw, who notes Dirk hosts an annual charity baseball game featuring many non-baseball players in baseball unis). … Crossover alert #2 (also posted in College Football Section): Ever wonder what Bryce Harper would look like wearing an Ohio State Buckeyes jersey? (h/t Douglas Ford). … Virginia Tech will be wearing four different baseball hats this season. Here they are (from Andrew Cosentino).

NFL News: In a somewhat unprecedented move, the Miami Dolphins will wear all aqua unis today — this will be the first time the team wears aqua tops for a home day game since their 12/31/94 playoff contest vs. Chiefs, which ended up being Joe Montana’s final game (thanks to Bob Gassel). … Some poor soul has taken the time to track the Browns uni combos this season — according to the article, they wore 7 of possible 9 uni combos (with 3 tops, 3 pants and 2 socks, wouldn’t there be more — like 18 possible combos???). Anyway, I guess they’re not counting the socks. But as far as tops/pants, they didn’t wear orange over orange or white over orange this season. … This year’s Super Bowl program features Katy Perry’s shark (great spot by Todd Radom).

College/High School Football News: Crossover alert (also posted in MLB Section): Ever wonder what Bryce Harper would look like wearing an Ohio State Buckeyes jersey? (h/t Douglas Ford). … UW friend and a co-collaborator with me on a few posts Clint Richardson has established a South Alabama uni tracker. … Looks like Herm Edwards was wearing his UnderArmour turtleneck backwards at yesterday’s UA All America Football Game (h/t Alan Killham). Speaking of the UAAAF, here’s a look at the unis the two squads wore. And here’s how they looked on the field. Not terrible, actually.

Hockey News: “Really unique advertising at Rogers Arena in Vancouver for a ski resort,” writes Dustin Semore. This is the best shot of the face of the stairs saying “Ski Big White” for the spectators on the opposite side of the arena (and viewers). … “The Everett Silvertips of the WHL did a throwback game on New Year’s Day,” says Dave Sizer. “These have never actually been worn in the team’s history, so I guess these fall under the ‘faux-back’ category. Nice looking sweater though!” … Here’s a pretty cool look at NHL outdoor games through the years.

Basketball News: Major crossover alert (also posted in MLB section): Ever wonder what Dirk Nowitzki would look like playing baseball? Wonder no more (nice find from Seth Shaw — see MLB section for more details). … Yesterday, for the first time since 2008, the WVU Mountaineers wore gold on the road vs. K-State, who wore gray at home (h/t Zack D’Ulisse). … Also going color vs. gray yesterday were Virginia Tech & NC State (from Andrew Cosentino). … Georgetown wore their gorgeous throwback gray unis last night (via Georgetown Hoops). Here’s how they looked on the court (via bryanwdc). … Rockets F Donatas Motiejunas had a photoshopped NYE party invitation (thanks to Mike Chamernik). … Do we have a nominee for the worst uni matchup of the season? Why, yes — yes we do. … Looks like Ryan Hollins may have been the first NBA player we’ve seen wearing a wedding ring in game. “Qalo?” asks BC.

Grab Bag: Yesterday’s ticker featured “unholy mashups” for Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Reader Jared Buccola wanted to add one from San Diego. … Not really uni-related, but when is it OK to root against your alma mater in the Rose Bowl? Never, apparently.

Phew! That will do it for this fine first Sunday in January. As always, BIG HUGE thanks to the entire Sunday Morning Uni Watch Crew: Terry “TJ” Duroncelet, Joe Ringham, Rex Henry, Dennis Bolt, Kyle Acker, and our newest member, Davis Vinckier. Stellar work all season, lads. Readers, make sure you give these guys a thanks below! Everyone enjoy your final regular season Sunday NFL games. Not sure how much, if any, I’ll be watching today, since I plan to make use of my AARP card for the first time ever. Till next weekend…

Follow me on Twitter @PhilHecken (what the hell’s with the balloons?)…

RIP Jesco. Hang in there ‘wreck & P’apps.

Peace.

.. … ..

“My girlfriend pointed out to me that the rink was inside the event logo before I put the two and two together. She Gets It! She’s a keeper.”

–Mike Engle, on the importance of dating