Sunday, January 27, 2013

College Athletes Play for Tradition or Best Look

In today’s sports world, the way a team looks is big business. ‘Look good, feel good, play good’ is more than a catch-phrase as the brand and style of new uniforms in college football has become a primary focus in the recruitment effort. In the past, the teams with the greatest traditions (Alabama, Texas, and USC) were able to get all of the ‘big time’ recruits. However, a new trend has emerged as teams like Oregon, Maryland, and Rutgers are now able to draw in top recruits because of the popularity their uniforms.

According  to Allan Brettman (http://tinyurl.com/b8lb2d9), when Oregon first came out with the new uniform combinations it created a lot of buzz about the university. The media and sports fans were focused on the football team and high school kids liked the new uniforms. Although somewhat controversial, the focus on uniforms may seem like a crazy idea but as it relates to recruiting it has leveled the playing field for competing against traditional powerhouse teams.

There are still folks who feel that the combinations of uniforms is a waste of money; especially the smaller schools that do not have the same funding like the bigger universities and cannot compete. The trends in college football may change, but right now the team with the best uniform design has a great shot at landing the big time recruits.

5 comments:

  1. I like the creative look of the new uniforms (my favorite is Maryland's uniform); however, I think that some of the universities have gone overboard with the amount of money spent on uniform combinations. Why does a team need 25+ different uniform combinations? It gives the impression that the schools are wasting money and catering to the impulsive whims of pop culture.

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  2. As soon as Kingsbury was hired at Tech, their Under Armor rep tweeted that Tech would become Under Armor's "Oregon of the South".

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  3. I would agree that many of today’s athletes like the flashy, glamorous things that come with being a college athlete. For example, last year I was given the opportunity to tour both the football recruiting room and the players’ lounge at the University of Nebraska. The player’s lounge has pool tables, smoothie makers, massage recliners, leather couches and more! The recruiting room definitely combined tradition with the flash. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. It was obvious that the university was trying to catch the eye of the athlete using flashy, state of the art apparel and various other incentives to play for their team. The athlete knew they were going to get the latest and greatest equipment, apparel, and access to some of the nicest facilities and player’s lounges in the country. All they had to do was sign their name on the dotted line and make plays when the time came. Not a bad deal if I say so myself!

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  4. While tradition is important at most “big time” college football programs such as USC, Alabama, and Texas, other programs have realized that need that little something extra to attract top flight college prospects. Oregon (or Nike U) first created this craze and soon began signing the recruits that would normally go to USC. It didn’t take other schools long to notice this and create multiple uniforms of their own. Maryland has the backing of Under Armor, and has created some of the wildest uniforms out there. While traditionalist scoffed, the young recruits took notice. For this reason, this is a trend that is not going away.

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  5. I think the uniforms are a good tool for recruiting only if the teams can back it up on the field. Oregon, Boise State, and Oklahoma State are the big recent "uniform craze" schools with their football programs on a rise, and all have won a BCS title in the past four years. However, their recruiting classes still are not consistently ranked in the top ten each year. I really believe the kids will go where they can win a national title. Until one of these teams steps up and wins a title, I think the traditional powerhouses (Alabama, Texas, USC, Ohio State, etc) will remain on the top of the recruiting class rankings.

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