In an era where college football teams strive to captivate fans with innovative and bold designs, some recent uniform unveilings have missed the mark, drawing ire for their glaringly unattractive aesthetics.
Changes in uniform combinations are often risky, with fans eager to inject their opinions. While there is the potential to become a celebrated success like the Oregon Ducks' diverse array of designs, there is also the risk of a uniform blunder like the Michigan State Spartans' attempt to integrate neon green into their color palette.
Below, we rank the top five worst new uniforms set to hit the gridiron in 2024.
No. 5: Illinois Fighting Illini
As the Illinois Fighting Illini open the 2024 season in a newly renovated Memorial Stadium, the program announced that it will wear new specialty uniforms during the stadium's rededication game on Oct. 19 against the Michigan Wolverines.
The uniforms are in honor of Fighting Illini legendary halfback Red Grange, who was a three-time All-American, a national champion, and a two-time NFL champion. Grange had an iconic performance during Memorial Stadium's dedication game against the Wolverines in 1924, prompting the Illini to commemorate the performance 100 years later.
These uniforms feature navy blue jerseys with distinctive tannish-gold vertical stripes that form a pyramid shape on the chest, a design reminiscent of the 1924 Fighting Illini sets. The jerseys include white numbers outlined in blue on both the front and back. The design's tannish-gold color extends to the pants, which will be paired with navy blue socks.
To complete the throwback uniform, hand-painted and airbrushed helmets designed to replicate the look of original leather helmets will be worn.
While I do enjoy the commemorative feel of throwback uniforms, they are too busy in my opinion.
For what it's worth, I appear to be in the minority when it comes to my opinion on these uniforms. After Illinois' reveal, college football fans were quick to show support, specifically praising the design of the helmet.
No. 4: Purdue Boilermakers
The Purdue Boilermakers made their first uniform adjustment since 2016 by introducing a new template to its home and away sets for the duration of the 2024 season.
Purdue's new football jerseys feature a prominent "Purdue" wordmark across the chest above the program's custom number font. The black home jerseys have a gold wordmark with white numbers outlined in gold, while the white road jerseys display a black wordmark with black numbers outlined in gold.
The sleeves and pants showcase a new striping pattern that varies between the program's home and away uniforms. The pattern features the program's primary colors: Boilermaker gold, black, and white.
The Boilermakers also removed the railroad track design that appeared down the middle of the helmets in favor of a striping pattern matching the away and home sleeves.
While these changes are neat and intriguing, the uniform template looks eerily similar to that of its Big Ten counterpart, the Iowa Hawkeyes. One could also compare closely to the Colorado Buffaloes but with stripes on the sleeves and pants.
Due to that awkward comparison to Iowa and perhaps Colorado, the originality of the Boilermakers' uniform is tarnished in my mind and loses much of its appeal.
No. 3: Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame is often noteworthy when it comes to uniforms. The legendary golden helmets and pants are some of college football's most iconic features. The Fighting Irish are one of the few programs where any deviation from tradition can swiftly spark a national outcry.
To honor the centennial anniversary of the undefeated 1924 Fighting Irish team, the program will wear navy blue pants paired with a navy blue jersey featuring a gothic golden chrome font. The Irish will don the uniform in its Nov. 23 clash with the Army Midshipmen at New York's Yankee Stadium.
I understand the attempt to honor the past with the gothic font and golden accent, but the chrome finish is a bit over the top for my liking. Notre Dame is attempting to be trendy, but sometimes it's better to stay with what has worked before.
Considering the Notre Dame uniform traditionally has few details, the numbers' overly-metallic shine is too difficult to ignore.
No. 2: Baylor Bears
The Baylor Bears completed a uniform overhaul this offseason and revealed four new uniform color combinations for the fall: green, gold, white, and anthracite.
While the green, white, and anthracite-colored uniforms are decently appealing, the yellowish-gold uniform might make fans wash their eyes after viewing it.
Blue, red, white, and even purple work well optically in a full uniform set, but yellow has a certain quota attached to it. Too much of a yellow hue can cause quite a headache if looked at for an extended period of time.
In my opinion, the yellow uniform set looks like a bottle of mustard waiting to be used on a char-grilled hamburger or hot dog in the stadium parking lot.
No. 1: TCU Horned Frogs
The TCU Horned Frogs underwent a massive uniform redesign this offseason as the program rolled out three new looks it will wear throughout 2024.
TCU's trio of uniforms features its home purple, road whites, and an alternate blackout.
The new threads are much simpler and almost feel computer-generated. The distinctive custom number font and silver accents will still be part of the new set, but the most notable removed features are the contrasting color, cuffs, and scale-like design near the collar.
All three pants shades will be stripeless, which adds to the bare and lifeless feel.
For the first time since 2010, TCU will offer glossy purple helmets. Other options include glossy white, satin black, purple chrome, and silver chrome. Both the satin black and purple chrome helmets will feature a scale-like pattern similar to the one removed from the collar.
Even with the fancy helmets, the Horned Frogs honestly downgraded by removing the scale-like collar pattern, and the boring uniform template looks like something an underperforming high school football team would wear.
With the college football season only a few weeks away, the major uniform overhaul announcements are almost certainly over. However, specialty alternates for many teams throughout the nation will continue to be released periodically as the season rolls on.
Related: College Football: Every New Uniform and Helmet for Teams in the 2024 Season
Related: Fans Roasting TCU's New Uniforms for 2024 College Football Season
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