Ranking the football uniforms: No. 20

The top 20! Next year remind me to eschew everything other than the top 10, by the way. Just a little not to my future self.

Here’s a closer look at this combo:

Uniform No. 20: Orange-Orange-White
Worn: 2012 at home against Texas Tech
Result(s): 1-0 (59-21 over Tech)
Orange helmet: 3-0
Orange tops: 7-0
White pants: 4-0

This combo is like how everybody always tells me wine should be — better with age etc. I don’t know about the wine part but the orange-orange-white combo has grown on me over time.

I know some of you don’t love the white facemask but it actually pairs well with the white pants in this case, I think. Throw in the black kicks USC-style with the white laces (even though nobody that I can tell actually did this) and we’ve got ourselves a uniform combo.

Side note on these: Why does anything orange OSU wears always look so crazy different inside Boone Pickens Stadium depending on the time of year, time of day, opponent unis, and size of your TV? We have to lead the nation in difference-in-color-shade per attendee when we wear the oranges.

I asked Carson Cunningham — a uniform connoisseur himself — to start weighing in on these rankings so you would get a different side of the coin. Here’s his take:

Carson: Kyle actually talked me into these, once they grew on him.

When they first ran out of the tunnel, my first thought was, “Meh.” But the more you take a step back and assess them, it actually works.

Some of the most traditional uniforms in college football utilize this setup (helmets + jersey match, with different-colored pants). USC, Georgia, Oklahoma, Michigan etc. use this template to great effect.

(Unrelated: I LOVE Georgia’s home R-R-G. They are in my top 5 of any school. Which makes you wonder why they ever wore these terrifying things:

That concludes today’s edition of “When New Uniforms Go Wrong”)

As for OSU, I still don’t understand why they insist on putting an orange brand (or Pistol Pete) on an orange helmet. It’s just not great use of common sense, let alone a good uni look. It renders the brand invisible from the stands. A white brand would work perfectly with the white facemask (though you know I prefer orange & black instead of white.)

But overall O-O-W is a very traditional, clean combo. And the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts.

Totally Tickets is your source for Oklahoma State football tickets.

Photo Attribution: USATSI