Who’s out of style and whose duds are in

Ron Kantowski lists his five best-dressed college football teams, as well as his bottom 10

Tuesday, June 24, 2008 | 2 a.m.

BYU's Matt Allen tries to cover up the embarrassing color scheme sported by Oregon's J.D. Nelson during the Las Vegas Bowl in 2006.

RUNWAY REBELS

UNLV Rebels Football

Ron Kantowski: Now and Then

College football players come in all shapes and sizes.

College football uniforms come in all colors and styles.

Sometimes that’s a good thing.

And sometimes it isn’t.

Here’s our look at some of the best — and worst — college football uniforms you’re ever going to see on Saturday afternoon. (Or Thursday night, if the game’s on ESPN.)

The worst

Here are 10 schools that should be put on NCAA probation for lack of uniform behavior:

1. Oregon: My retinas are still burning from the Ducks’ Las Vegas Bowl appearance in 2006. Who designed these not-so-mellow uniforms? Donovan? Oregon looks like a bunch of electrical bananas in motion. I’m not mad about Saffron, but I am upset about having to wear dark glasses whenever the Ducks run onto the field.

2. Utah: The Utes insist on wearing these metallic candy-apple red shirts and trousers that make them look like hot rods from “American Graffiti.” Too bad John Milner used up his eligibility years ago.

3. Iowa State: The Cyclones wear all-red, too, only theirs isn’t metallic. And they’ve got a little yellow in there. I think their uniforms are hand-me-downs from the night shift at Wienerschnitzel.

4. San Jose State: Blue shirts, black pants, yellow trim. The Spartans look like a giant bone bruise.

5-10. Oregon State, Tennessee, Syracuse, Miami, Illinois, Oklahoma State and anybody else who wears orange — except Texas. The Longhorns know that to make orange look good, you must first burn it.

Dishonorable mention: Washington, Northwestern, TCU, Kansas State, Furman and any other team that wears purple.

Call Mr. Blackwell: Clemson wears orange and purple.

The best

These five teams always wear their Saturday best:

1. Penn State: The beauty is in the simplicity. The Nittany Lions’ uniforms are college football’s answer to Yankee pinstripes. They look so neat, traditional and workmanlike that you don’t even notice their coach is wearing a windbreaker from 1968 and floods.

2. Michigan: The coolest helmets in football. The Maize and Blue. Maize — even the name of the color sounds cool.

3. Nebraska: What about that “N” on the helmets? I have never seen a helmet decal that better reflects a team’s fan base than the no-frills Nebraska “N.”

4. Ohio State: Most of my favorite college football uniforms don’t feature stripes, but the Buckeyes’ are the exception. Who needs a helmet decal when you have Buckeye leaves?

5. USC: No names on the back, a stripe on the shoulder. A classic look for a classic program.

Discussion: 5 comments so far…

By cyclones

6/24/08 at 5:50 a.m.

Suggest removal

I guess its a good thing that Iowa State got new Uni's this year...

http://www.cyclones.com/ViewArticle.dbml...
By knight42

6/24/08 at 10:02 a.m.

Suggest removal

Yea, but did you really expect the las vegas sun do actually do research?
By Smitty

6/24/08 at 10:18 a.m.

Suggest removal

Good lord, could you have possibly written a worse column?

Not only has Iowa State changed their uniforms this season, but they didn't even wear the all red uniforms LAST season. Do you even follow the game? (BTW, you'l love the new ISU duds; they look just like USC.)

Donovan? Did you really relate a comment on current college football uniform styles to Donovan? Man, wait til you see what KC and the Sunshine Band are rolling out.

Lastly, anyone that calls Penn State's ridiculous practice uniforms the best in college football immediately flushes their credibility right down the toilet. Don't adjust your television, you're not watching a black & white picture, it's just the Nittany Lions.

It's time for you and JoPa to hang it up.
By whyisit

6/24/08 at 10:53 a.m.

Suggest removal

San Jose State University has not worn black on their uniforms in over three years and if Ron Kantowski had taken the time to do a little fact checking he would have know that. For Ron Kantowski to state that SJSU is wearing black is an example of lazy and/or sloppy journalism.
By rocket_car

6/25/08 at 6:28 p.m.

Suggest removal

An awful lot of flak for a fluff summer piece...it's like you're the target of "Queer Eye for the Sports Guy" or something...