The Atlantic Coast Conference

So, I failed to mention in my last post that I think this bizness of switching helmets and uniforms like one would, say, underwear, to be completely ridiculous. Totally stupid. With that being said, I give you the ACC. It's so... Atlantic and Coasty. I'll break it down by divisions and then go by the good ol' alphabet. Today, The Atlantic. Tomorrow, The Coastal.

                                                        

ATLANTIC

• BOSTON COLLEGE EAGLES

 

 Ya know... Not a bad look really. If only they could stick with ONE home and ONE away. The burgundy with gold britches is pretty sharp and the one they should stick with. Now, I don't know about this mess with the stripe on the helmet, but in my opinion it's a good example of  "overthink." You can't even see it from 5 feet away!

• CLEMSON TIGERS

A good look for a team with a good football history. Now, if only they could get rid of those stupid orange pants and destroy the purple ones in the lowest parts of Hades... Cool logo, too.
 

• FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES

 

A pretty darn good look. Not bad a'tall. And relatively unchanged for 3+ decades. Almost iconic. That's the only good thing I can say about them. Now, that feather mess around the collar looks stooopid.

• MARYLAND TERRAPINS

You know, I actually like this year's uniforms for the 'Terps. The lids are kind of nice. A bit gaudy, perhaps, but manageable. Now, the piping kind of reminds of  futuristic highway signage but ehhhh.... I'll let 'em have it. Much, much better than last year's vomitpalooza on steroids:

I'm all about state pride but jeez.

• NORTH CAROLINA STATE WOLFPACK

It's a solid look. I give them kudos.

Now, the "NCS" logo looks too much like Stanford's logo:















...especially from a distance. And they should never, ever, ever wear this again:

Puke.

• WAKE FOREST DEMON DEACONS

Sigh... A lot to like. A lot to loathe. A little bit of overthink. Too much piping. Colors are good. Gold pants with home and away jerseys. You could use a new logo. There I solved your problems... Satanic Christians!?!?



Alas, that it for the ATLANTIC Division of the ATLANTIC Coast Conference... OHHHH... I get it. Wait, that's all you could come up with?!?
Tomorrow: Coastal!

First and 10

   So, if you're like me you have a passion for college football. You measure the year not from January to December, but from September to August. Your Summer days are spent eyeing the calendar, counting down to that first weekend of the season and pining for those cool Autumn Saturday evenings.
   Now, there are plenty of websites out there that are all about college football. You can get stats about rushing yards, passing yards and sacks. But, how many do you know that are all about the uniforms the teams wear? How many sites out there are devoted solely to what a young man suits up in to represent his university, state, or conference? The answer: no clue. Not many from what I can gather. That's what I'm going to attempt to do here: showcase the duds of college football.
   Now, in life, we all want to look good. We may not all be fashion experts but most of us brush our hair and press our clothes. We want to be presentable. That where I am coming from here. Presentation is EVERYTHING.
   In full disclosure, this little project was inspired by a website known as Uni Watch. I first discovered this site in 2006 while trying to find info on the upcoming college football season and to see if there were any changes coming up, uniform related. I still peek in from time to time (usually in the Summer). It's mainly written by a man named Paul Lukas and he does a really good job of showcasing and discussing uniforms from all sports. Now, his site leans heavily towards baseball because he's a big baseball fan. And, there's nothing wrong with that. It's just not my cup of tea. Now, he doesn't ignore college football by any means, he's just not that big of a fan. Again, nothing wrong with that. But, I wanted to be able to put in my two cents.
   In the coming days and weeks I'll attempt to break down every Division 1-A (I loathe the term FBS) team's uniforms and logos, breaking it down by conference. I'll do it alphabetically starting with the ACC and ending with the independents. This may take awhile, but that's OK with me.
   To get started, allow me to let you in on the way I view uniforms in general:

• Less is more. Simple is always better than gaudy. That's a no-brainer, right? One would think, anyway.
• Logos or numbers on helmets are the icing on the cake. They should be somewhat iconic and somewhat subdued. They should NEVER spell out an entire word (i.e. Boise State or Aztecs) with MAYBE the exception of the word "State."
• While I'm a patriotic man, camouflage should never be an option. (With the exception of the service academies, of course.)

    Now, in full disclosure, I'm a huge Alabama fan. With that being said I will TRY to not let biases get in the way of discussing uniforms. I'm a big believer in giving each their own. That's why I won't rank the uniforms, only critique them. So, stay tuned. The first installment will arrive shortly!