Sunday Morning Uni Watch

By Phil Hecken and the SMUW Gang
Follow @PhilHecken

On the penultimate weekend for non-Bowl college football, we were treated to a much smaller slate of games, as it was championship weekend. And for the most part, everyone wore their Sunday Saturday best.

It was pleasing to see very little in the way of uni-shenanigans. It was almost quaint. In the Power 5, almost all teams wore their “regular” outfits: Clemson wore their championship orange pants, TCU kinda mixed things up with their chromy-froggy hat, Miami shunned their orange pants — but it was pretty much business as usual. Auburn/Georgia was gorgeous, as was Ohio State/Wisconsin. The only true “one-off” in the Power 5 was Stanford, who eschewed their normal cardinal helmet stripe and logo, opting for silver, and adding a white facemask. It didn’t pay off, as the silver/white/cardinal team lost to the GOLD/cardinal USC Trojans. It wasn’t a bad look — it just wasn’t Stanford. Let that be a lesson.

We’re winding down now, and I have the full squad here today — but after this week, they’ll enjoy a couple of weekend’s of respite before we gather again for some Bowl wraps. So, for the final time during the “regular” season, here’s my sidekick, TJ Duroncelet with your…

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Sunday Morning Uni Watch
By Terry Duroncelet, Jr.

Championship Week is one of those weird weeks where there’s a ton of action, but virtually no action at the same time. Nonetheless, lots of high-stakes gameplay went down over the weekend, and this is my attempt to fill in as much as I can with what little I have to work with, but there’s nothing wrong with a little creativity. I just hope I don’t run my mouth TOO much. On with the games, then.

From Friday:

• Apart from the BFBS, Stanford tends to have a pretty consistent uniform program, which has only elevated with the addition of the fir to the block ‘S’ from a few years back (that is a fir, right?). Surely they wouldn’t come up with something for the sake of its own existen– …WHAT. I need names. NOW. I need to know who’s responsible. This… why does this exist? When I first tuned into the game, I saw the new lid from afar, so I thought that they had only changed the facemask (like Wisconsin a handful of times this season), but NOPE. This would be good for a Turn Ahead The Clock promotion for, I don’t know, 1999? Preferably with a matching uniform. I mean, it’s not THAT bad, but it’s the textbook definition of “pointless”. Oh well. Wear stupid helmets, win stupid prizes (in this case, Stanford won a big, fat ‘L’ at the hands of the 2017 Pac 12 Champions, the USC Trojans). This hurts to admit, being staunchly anti-USC, but hey.

From Saturday:

• Kenny Kaplan noted that Oklahoma Sooner Mark Andrews was spotted with a silver/grey TV number in the Big XII Championship game against TCU, and I’m pretty sure that it was a result of landing and sliding on some fresh-ish paint somewhere on the field.

• The UCF/Memphis tilt was not only one of the best games that I’ve seen all year (I was on the edge of my seat the last few minutes), but we were also treated to a color vs color game, albeit it was grey vs blue. Also, here’s a good look at one of the AAC Championship patches worn in that game.

• Typically for Championship Week, you’ll see a jersey patch or two. Not in the SEC Championship, as the title logo was regulated to being a helmet decal on the back of each team’s helmet. Also, if you thought that Georgia’s white unis looked a little on the dingy side, you’re not alone. Joseph Newell/@joebnewell reports that it’s allegedly due to the lights that the Atlanta Falcons’ new stadium use, which aren’t exactly white jersey-friendly. The perspective seems to be doing something funky to the SEC logo at midfield here (PC: 22/@BringinThe44). Lastly, congrats to the Georgia Bulldogs (my sister went to grad school at UGA, so between that and watching Auburn fall flat on their face, it was a fun time). This is Georgia’s first SEC title since 2005.

• A handful of readers noticed that a Wisconsin player wears a hoodie under his uniform, despite last night’s game being indoors (I’m pretty sure that’s Nick Nelson. Derrick Tindal Jr. was seen wearing one as well). Either one or both had apparently been wearing it all season (H/T to Thomas/@Runnin4h20 for the Nelson rear shot, as well as Michael Ferguson for the Tindal pic). Also, primal/@loneranger158 notes that the Badgers have equipment trunks with the old BCS logo. Lastly, I don’t this was what they meant when they say “cut a rug”.

• Perhaps no greater material possession –and borderline meme– to be birthed out of the 2017 season was the Turnover Chain, something that the Miami Hurricanes have fully embraced. It’s even spawned its own sushi roll! Adidas decided to take the chain to what is almost undoubtedly one of several penultimate conclusions: cars. Decent ones, too. The kind you would see in a typical 2000s music video for just about any ol’ Rap song (“Rap” being the operative word here, not Hip Hop. Big difference). And in their defense, the cars fit the Miami culture/vibe, at least, in my opinion. Adidas shelled out money to have a couple of cars done up with this custom chain job. Of course, Adidas did fund this, so it’s only “right” to see their precious mountain plastered on them a few times over. Only Miami can pull this off. Just give me something reliable to carry my drums around for gigs and call it a day.

And with that, the 2017 regular season comes to a close. I want to thank everyone who contributed all season, ESPECIALLY those on Twitter. Ever since Daylife’s photo service shut down… what, 5 or so years ago, it’s been incredibly difficult to source same-day pictures (at least, ones that don’t require a magnifying glass), so to everyone who feeds Phil everything through Twitter (and then he tags me), THANK YOU. I owe you guys a lot (as well as the many official college football accounts that have gotten into the habit of posting hi-res photos to their accounts, they’ve been integral to the process as well). Also, the reason that I haven’t been responding on Sundays is because I typically have work that day, and by the time I come home, it’s much too late to respond, so I promise that my silence isn’t intentional. Luckily, I have this particular Sunday off, so I’ll be happy to respond to any comments or questions you may have. I’m gonna vegetate for a couple of weeks. I hope you enjoyed what the season’s given us so far, enjoy the Army/Navy game (go Navy, beat Army), and I’ll see you in a few weeks.

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Thanks TJ. And while I have your attention, I want to thank YOU as well as Joe, Rex, Dennis, Ethan and Kyle for another GREAT regular season of SMUWing. It’s not goodbye for the year, though, as everyone will return in a few short weeks. Now for the rest of today’s SMUW…

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Joe Ringham’s 5 & 1

Following in the footsteps of the original “5 & 1,” Jim Vilk, and Catherine Ryan after him, Joe Ringham is back again for 2017 to make his “5 & 1” (five good looking and one stinker) uni-vs-uni matchups. Sometimes he’ll have some “honorable mentions” and sometimes there will be more than one “bad” game. You may agree and you may disagree — these are, after all, just opinions and everyone has one. Feel free to let him know what you think in the comments section.

Here’s Joe:

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Hello again, everybody! We’ve hit Conference Championship Weekend, meaning the pickings for this week’s list are limited. However, let’s see who made the cut, according to me.

5) South Alabama at New Mexico State — Not a conference championship game, but still a looker nevertheless. Really dug the Jaguars in navy/white/navy on the road in Las Cruces. Paired up against the crimson/crimson/white home set of the now-bowl eligible Aggies, and you have a beaut of a game in the Sun Belt Conference to close the season.

4) SEC Championship: Georgia vs Auburn — This game made the good side of the list when they last played back a month ago (scroll down to this space to find out where on the list). No reason why it shouldn’t make the list again a month later, right?

3) Big 12 Championship: TCU vs Oklahoma — I had a feeling this would make the list, after seeing earlier in the week that TCU would go black/white/black for this game. It looked sensational, especially with the chrome purple frog design on the lids, and it matched up great against the Sooners’ simple home unis.

2) AAC Championship: Memphis at Central Florida — I caught a glimpse of this game, in the early window of games Saturday, and immediately tagged this for this list. Really loved UCF going black/silver/black at home. Paired up against the white/blue/white that Memphis went with on the road and you have a damn good looking color vs. color championship game.

1) Big Ten Championship – Ohio State vs Wisconsin — Two simple, gorgeous uniforms that I am a huge fan of, in a championship setting. I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

And, finally…

+1) MAC Championship: Akron vs Toledo — This game is here only because of the yellow lids Toledo went with. Didn’t look terrible… but didn’t look good either.

And, with that, that wraps up the regular season for me. I’ll be back again in a few weeks for the first of two (at least) bowl editions of the 5 & 1. Until then…

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Thanks Joe! You can follow Joe on the Twitter and let him know what you think of his choices or make a 5 & 1 suggestion of your own!

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NCAA Uni Tracking

Uni Watch will again track the uniform combinations worn by the “Power 5” conferences. All of the 2016 trackers are back!

We’ve got Rex Henry (tracking the ACC), Dennis Bolt (tracking the PAC-12), Kyle Acker (tracking the Big XII), and Ethan Dimitroff (tracking the B1G AND the SEC). Rex, Dennis, and Kyle and are all returning from 2015, and Ethan is back after joining the NCAA Uni Tracking last season. Ethan has stepped into the dual role of both the B1G and the SEC.

Here are the Uni Trackers for the Power 5 Conferences:

+ + + + + + + + + +

Rex is up first today (ACC):

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ACC

More Here.
Follow Rex on Twitter here.

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

PAC-12

More here.
Follow Dennis on Twitter here.

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And here is Ethan, with the SEC:

SEC

And be sure to check out Ethan’s WVU Mountaineer Tracker.
Follow Ethan on Twitter here.

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And here is Kyle with the Big XII:

Big XII

Follow Kyle on Twitter here.

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And here’s Ethan with the B1G:

B1G

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Uni Watch News Ticker
By Phil

Baseball News: Check out the gorgeous sweaters being sported by the 1911 St. Louis Cardinals (from Bruce Menard). Turns out, Ebbets Field likely makes replicas. That tweet led Keith Olbermann to add, “You mean like these PCL replica sweaters we put out at @EbbetsVintage awhile back?”. Damn that’s nice. … On Facebook, the Oakland A’s are asking readers whether they prefer long pants or high socks cuffs (from Paul G.).

NFL News: The Philadelphia Eagles will be wearing mono-white tonight against the Seahawks. … The Browns will go orange/white/white/orange against the color-rashing Chargers today (from Robert Hayes). … Remember that one Super Bowl that the @Seahawks won when they were dressed like Patriots? Me neither (from Bill Pepper). … Too many players to track of will be wearing “My Cause/My Cleats” shoes today, but here’s a look at some of the adidas athletes who are sporting special kicks (from Pablo Murphy). … So have you guys seen the commercial yet where the Wendy’s helmet has pride stickers? (From Dave). … A ticker item on Friday noted “Andrew Gordon did a little math, and figured out that 15 of the 32 NFL teams (47%) have the team name on the front of their jerseys.” Harry Higgens notes, “Regarding Andrew Gordon and NFL teams with their names on the front of the jerseys, he forgot the Seahawks. It’s on the left shoulder, not dead center like the others.”

Hockey News: The Tampa Bay Lightning Alumni visited Tampa Bay area firehouses (from John Muir). John notes the coolest uni-related element was this Tampa Bay Firefighters jersey. … I’m not quite sure of these teams, but Matthew Klimberg writes, “Hockey Milano Rossoblu is currently beating Hockey Feltre 4-0 with 3:30 left in the first. However, I’ve gotta give credit to the visitors for having the best logo/worst jersey combination in hockey history!” Here’s a better look at the Feltre logo/crest. … Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist is breaking in a new set of pads, but they are “not a dedicated set for the Winter Classic – this is confirmed by a contact at Bauer” (from The Goal Net). … Interesting McNOBs for the Florida Panthers — one is “superscript” while the other is “subscript” (from Matt Campbell). … The Rangers have a very “winter classic-y” warm-up sweater they wore yesterday (from Al N. Kreit). … “Daniel Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks collected his 1000th NHL point this past week,” writes Wade Heidt. “The 87th NHL player to reach 1000 career points. Of course, all points as a member of the Canucks. What is notable is that there is a logo celebrating the accomplishment.” Wade continues, “Interesting to compare Daniel’s logo to his brother’s. Henrik collected his 1000th point last season and also has a logo for his feat.”

NBA News: The Washington Wizards will have their own G-League affililate next fall and on Friday we learned of the name and logos for that franchise. Their G-League team will officially be known as the Capital City Go-Go (from bryanwdc). And here’s a little video (also from Bryan). … Tweeter Chris Howell‘s son recently celebrated his 10th birthday, and Chris had this great cake made just for the occasion.

College Hoops News: Yesterday, Marquette broke out these “championship blue” uniforms (from @therealcorey). … In that game, Drew Brown noticed the team had uniforms with two different color Jordan logos. … There are some very odd-looking collars on these South Dakota jerseys (from Lucas Falk). … Looks like they’re not the only ones (from Chris Mycoskie).

Soccer News: One year ago yesterday, 71 people lost their lives when a plane carrying Chapecoense’s squad crashed. Torino honored the victims with this special jersey (from @tonyjuve10).

Grab Bag: Last weekend (I think) I had a tweet about the 1940 Winter Olympics, which had first been scheduled for Japan, then Germany, being canceled due to Germany’s invasion of Poland. This week, thanks to James Gilbert, we have a “Next year’s Olympic Games have been cancelled. They were scheduled to be held in Helsinki, but Red Army’s invasion of Finland makes it an ‘unsuitable’ venue” tweet. … Our resident women’s volleyball stalker watcher, Jimmer Vilk, notes, “School colors from waist up for Oregon. BYU in white over dark (should be royal) blue. Duck jerseys look feathery.” … Ugh. The Super League Club Huddersfield Giants have advertising (and an apparently apropos advertiser at that), on the back of their shorts (from E P Conrad).

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