Jimmer Vilk’s 5 & 1
Welcome to the Five and One for 2022!
After more than a decade in hiatus, Jim Vilk (the original “5 & 1” decider) returned! And he’s back again for 2022.
The concept of the 5&1 is simple: Jim will pick five good matchups (not necessarily the five best anymore… he will have categories that will change from week to week) and one awful matchup.
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.
If you have a game you feel is “worthy” of consideration for the 5 & 1, please either post it in the comments below or tweet Mr. Vilk @JVfromOhio.
Here’s today’s 5 & 1:
I don’t start celebrating Christmas until well into December, but this morning I started writing up a very early list of Festivus uni-grievances. Then Michigan won, then Oregon State, then Pitt… even my alma mater pulled out a rare victory! So I scrapped my grievances (except for the &1), and I’m just going to wish you a continued Happy Thanksgiving. Now, here are Five Good Things I’m grateful for, starting with…
5. The “Sun Devils Uni That Looks Good In The Sun” Game:
Arizona State/Arizona
I prefer the pitchfork logo to Sparky, but I still appreciate this classic look.
4. The “Throwbacks Weren’t Necessary But They Sure Didn’t Hurt” Matchup:
UCLA/California
This game had a shot even without the Joe Roth tribute.
3. The “Not *Every* Team Needs Matching Helmets And Pants” Game:
Florida/Florida State
By the way, I LOVE the old-school goalposts in the background!
2. The “It’s Not Pitt/Penn State But It’s Still A Good Rivalry” Matchup:
Pitt/Miami
So, Nittany Lions, you still think your Land Grant “rivalry” is more prestigious than playing one of these two?
1. Simply The Best:
Nebraska/Iowa
Even with black socks on the Huskers, I love this “almost as good as Nebraska/Oklahoma” rivalry.
&1.
Kent State/Buffalo
At least the Flashes got the numbers right, but their helmets and Buffalo’s jerseys were an absolute mess of poor contrast.
See you next month!
Thanks, Jim! OK readers? What say you? Agree or disagree with Jimmer’s selections? Let him know in the comments below.
Jim,
The minute I saw the the Oregon-Oregon State game I thought it was a lock for the “1” but I’d say it should be 5 and 2 this week. Well done with the other choices although the traditionalist in me would nominate OSU-UM and MSU-PSU.
With maize or blue pants, UM/OSU would have been a lock.
I actually flirted with Oregon/Oregon State for The Five, but there were so many good matchups that squeezed them out.
Your Top 5 is great and gives me hope that ADs may finally be getting over their alternate-uni obsession. Also, USC-Notre Dame was another gorgeous classic match-up.
Thanks!
When ND stops using kid-sized numbers I’ll put their games back in contention. Otherwise it was a good matchup.
Hear, hear! Irish, talk to your supplier, you need bigger numbers indeed!
No love for Syracuse-Boston College? No mention on SMUW either
Gold-Maroon-Gold vs Orange-White-Orange. No weird modern stripes or patterns. A perfect autumn palette!!
And you could see them… unlike last week when BC did their polar bear in a snowstorm impersonation.
It was a nice looking game.
FSU alumni also appreciate the old-school goalposts. In Tallahassee, they are known as “Pete’s Posts,” named for 1960s head coach Bill Peterson, who would lead the team onto the field by running through them.
Good looking Five. Many of the games worthy for the top spot.
When Jimmer was compiling his list, even before he sent it, I was saying to myself, “I probably won’t be able to argue with any of The List,” simply because yesterday featured so many great matchups. Now, as it turned out, I would have had four different games than he eventually chose, but I still can’t argue too strenuously with his choices. I wish it didn’t take 13 weeks and “rivalry” weekend to actually bring out the best uni matchups, but here we are.
Seriously, no USC/ND? This is the classic matchup that always looks great. I would have put Ohio State/Michigan in this category except that Michigan continues to wear white pants instead of the classic maize (yellow).
When ND stops wearing timy numbers I’ll put them back into consideration. They look ridiculous now.
Solid picks. Personally, not a fan of the all-white look in most cases, so I would have taken out UF/FSU, and substituted BYU vs. Stanford. Great contrast, and blue/white/blue is by far BYU’s best look.
Otherwise, can’t argue with anything else on the list.
BYU/Stanford was on my short list. I agree with you about that blue/white/blue, and the white facemasks were a very nice touch.
The disrespect shown to my Irish for their game against USC is real.
Their disrespect for my eyes with those microscopic jersey numbers is real.
I’m a sucker for royal blue and athletic yellow, which is a CRIMINALLY underused combo, so I’ll say Cal throwbacks were very much necessary for that to be a good looking game. Those things are gorgeous. It’s a crime that they don’t already wear them full time. Just swap the C for the Cal helmet logo and call it a day. Hell, keep Berkeley blue with the throwback look and it would be a huge improvement over their current look.
I couldn’t possibly agree more with Jim about the tiny numbers for Notre Dame, South Carolina, etc. Ridiculous.
Not a great looking or uni notable game in Lubbock last night (Tech unis are an abomination), but I’m always struck with how beautiful the Oklahoma roads are. Especially for the players wearing crimson socks. Like Arkansas, the roads are actually even better than the home uni. It helps that neither of those teams have the option of ruining things with dark pants.
It’s weird. I simply cannot accept the Chiefs wearing white road pants, but I also can’t imagine Oklahoma in anything other than white pants.
I do like the Sooners’ home uni better though.
I too think the two special unis CAl wor this year ( Big Game and Joe Roth) are miles better than their normal set. The lighter/brighter blue with the yellow is just so crisp. The normal Navy is elegant but too dark.
Cal vs UCLA didn’t do it for me because I think their colors are too similar. I love contrasting colors.
Literally not a single Penn State fan/alumni thinks their game vs Michigan State is more ‘prestigious’ than our former rivalry with Pitt (or Miami?). Even the athletic department agrees, which is why the school’s athletic slogan has been “Unrivaled” for the past decade-ish. It still beats the B1G trying for a few years trying to force a rivalry with Maryland, though. That didn’t stick at all.
That’s good to hear.
Too bad about Maryland, because that seems like a better fit than MSU. They both belong in the ACC, though…maybe they could trade those two schools for BC and Louisville?
Penn State and Maryland had a rivalry, albeit one-sided, playing almost every year between ’60 and ’93 when PSU joined the Big 10. I went to a few of those. Miami only became a thing after the ’87 Fiesta Bowl. Pitt rivalry was great. Realignment has ruined many old rivalries. And agree the MSU thing is kind of fake.
There were a lot of good uni matchups this weekend! Personally would have had Ohio St/Mich in the top 5, probably replacing Florida St/Florida since it was very similar to Ohio St/Mich, but a nice week of college football uni matchups nonetheless!
Iowa continues to do the Steelers better than the Steelers.
YES.