Another Thought

Another thought sparked by, but not necessarily completely on, the MSU uniform change. Tradition is more important in college football than any other American sport, maybe any other sport period. You can pretty neatly divide up NCAA teams by classic uniforms vs. "cool" uniforms. For example, in the Big Ten there's Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State (the undisputed king of conservative uniforms) vs. Minnesota, Northwestern, and now MSU. Nationally speaking, you have the likes of Alabama, Texas, LSU, and USC vs. Oregon, Virginia Tech, Miami, and Florida (who used to be solidly in the other camp).

Obviously, having a classic uniform doesn't make you a good team. 'Bama didn't win the championship just because they kept simple uniforms around. But they do say something about how the institution thinks of itself. And how the fans view it. Keeping a uniform around means keeping a commitment to your history and having pride in it, or at least being willing to own it. So a team like Texas doesn't reinvent itself, Texas is Texas, take it or leave it.

Teams that constantly change uniforms destroy that consistency and connection. Or, if you're Oregon or VT, the uniforms seem to be an end in themselves, forget supporting tradition or building a legacy, let's just provoke reactions from people. And maybe we can sell some merchandise.

Even for a team like Michigan State that has a long history with significant highs (6 national championships) but a long period of mediocrity, I think it's better to stick with the classics, otherwise it seems like you're trying to brush history under the rug instead of owning it and moving forward.