As we hurtle ever closer to the mind-numbing reality of the college football offseason, let’s take a look back. After a month of occasionally-entertaining, occasionally-not bowl games, it’s nice to remind ourselves of all the fashion action that took place.
Because soon there will be no uniforms. Only the void.
Here are all 39 bowl games, ranked by their uniform matchups.
#39) New Orleans Bowl: Appalachian State vs UAB
App State’s uniforms are quite good, but White/White/Black is one of their weakest combinations. The same can be said for UAB, who only have weak combinations. APP ST 31-17 UAB
#38) Potato Bowl: Ohio vs Nevada
This is in no way a slight to Ohio, whose All-White uniforms are quite nice. Instead, this is an anti-Nevada uniforms space. All-Grey isn’t a cute look for them. OHIO 30-21 NEVADA
#37) Sun Bowl: Florida State vs Arizona State
These two have largely decent uniforms, but the mix was just off here. ASU’s yellow-gold helmets clashed badly with FSU’s faded gold, making this one a tough watch. ASU 20-14 FSU
#36) Birmingham Bowl: Boston College vs Cincinnati
I’m not a fan of this Cincinnati combo. Black helmets with white facemasks and no helmet stripes are pretty tacky; the All-Black helmets would’ve been a lot better. And it’s almost time for a BC uniform revamp, right? CINCY 38-6 BC
#35) RedBox Bowl: Cal vs Illinois
Not a good look for Illinois, whose white helmets don’t mix well with their orange jerseys and pants. Add to it that Cal could use a redesign themselves, and this one was a difficult watch. CAL 35-20 UI
#34) Gasparilla Bowl: UCF vs Marshall
Green-vs-Grey isn’t a bad idea on its own, but both teams wearing black pants made this one feel drab. It could’ve used another splash of color. UCF 48-25 MARSH
#33) LendingTree Bowl: ULL vs Miami (OH)
Two teams in red-and-white? Tough. The uniforms on their own weren’t bad on their own, but ULL in All-Red and Miami (OH) in All-White would’ve been far superior in terms of watchability. ULL 27-17 UM (OH)
#32) Independence Bowl: Louisiana Tech vs Miami (FL)
Another one where the uniforms themselves weren’t bad, but the colors didn’t work. This one would’ve been way better if La. Tech didn’t change their striping this season. The new stripes are an affront to God. LT 14-0 MIAMI
#31) Bahamas Bowl: Buffalo vs Charlotte
Buffalo in all-white is CLEEEEEAN. If only we could get Charlotte on a better template. Maybe this offseason? UB 31-9 CHAR
#30) Arizona Bowl: Wyoming vs Georgia State
Wyoming has a top-5 G5 uniform set. But while Georgia State’s uniforms aren’t bad, they lack the pop that makes a set like Wyoming’s so great. WYO 38-17 GSU
#29) Cure Bowl: Liberty vs Georgia Southern
Liberty’s new white jerseys are a big improvement. While I wasn’t a fan of Georgia Southern’s pink decals for this game, the two looks worked together well. LIB 23-16 GS
#28) Camping World Bowl: Notre Dame vs Iowa State
Notre Dame looks great in navy but less so in white. And while I love this color palette, ISU’s black helmets don’t really jive with their cardinal jerseys and pants. Still not a terrible matchup, though. ND 33-9 ISU
#27) Pinstripe Bowl: Michigan State vs Wake Forest
Can we get Michigan State to burn these pants? Please? The stripe is so bad. Everything else about this game was solid, though, especially Wake’s gold chrome helmets. MSU 27-21 WAKE
#26) Boca Raton Bowl: SMU vs Florida Atlantic
FAU hasn’t worn White/Red/White in a number of years, and I thought it worked well. And SMU in All-White is always a good look. Just a little too much white in this one for my taste. FAU 52-28 SMU
#25) Cheez-It Bowl: Air Force vs Washington State
Wazzu’s combos can be hit or miss, but this one was quite nice. And while Air Force as better looks than All-White, they still looked good. If only we could’ve gotten Air Force in blue jerseys… AF 31-21 WSU
#24) New Mexico Bowl: CMU vs San Diego State
This offseason, CMU went from uniform purgatory to a nice, consistent look. I thought they mixed well with SDSU, whose Red/Black/Black combo is as cool as it gets. SDSU 48-11 CMU
#23) Armed Forces Bowl: Southern Miss vs Tulane
Tulane in powder blue? Hell yeah. I just wish we could’ve gotten something else from Southern Miss, whose patriotic helmet decals left something to be desired. TULANE 30-13 SO MISS
#22) Belk Bowl: Virginia Tech vs Kentucky
While there were weird balance things here, both looks were really solid. If Kentucky wore Chrome/Blue/Blue for an entire season, I wouldn’t mind. And VT’s Maroon/White/Maroon is really nice. UK 37-30 VT
#21) Texas Bowl: Oklahoma State vs Texas A&M
I wonder if people will look back on these TAMU uniforms as classics. I know I will. OSU had a solid look too, as they finally nailed the facemask color on their striped helmets. TAMU 24-21 OK ST
#20) Holiday Bowl: Southern Cal vs Iowa
Both of these are elite uniforms, but they don’t mesh as well as they should. Iowa’s blank helmets (to honor the recently-passed Hayden Fry) made them look even more Steelers-y than usual. IOWA 49-24 SO CAL
#19) Las Vegas Bowl: Boise State vs Washington
I love what Adidas has done with Washington’s uniform set, as they’ve nailed the shades of purple and gold. If Boise had put out a better combo (Blue/White/Orange, perhaps?) this one would’ve been top 5, easy. WASH 38-7 BOISE
#18) Frisco Bowl: Utah State vs Kent State
Y’all know I love a good color-vs-color, and this one didn’t disappoint. Kent State’s uniforms are largely pretty bad, but All-Gold is a kickass combo that makes a ton of sense for them. KENT ST 51-41 USU
#17) Gator Bowl: Indiana vs Tennessee
Both these teams came out in really nice combos. They’re just not super exciting when paired together. Though, I do love Indiana’s shade of crimson and, yes, Tennessee’s shade of orange. TENN 38-10 UTAH
#16) First Responders Bowl: Western Kentucky vs Western Michigan
Western Michigan’s uniforms aren’t very good, but Brown/Brown/Gold is unquestionably their best combo. And I’ve always been in love with WKU’s look. This was an understated yet satisfying football game. WKU 23-20 WMU
#15) Camellia Bowl: Florida International vs Arkansas State
Red/Black/Black just needs to be Arkansas State’s go-to combo. It fits them SO well. Plus, FIU’s All-White has been a pleasant surprise all season. These teams look wonderful together. ARK ST 34-26 FIU
#14) Music City Bowl: Mississippi State vs Louisville
I’m not completely in love with Mississippi State’s uniforms, but I’ll admit that all-white has its merits. This Louisville combo, though? Awesome. Black/Red/Black is a killer look for them. LOU 38-28 MSU
#13) Cotton Bowl: Memphis vs Penn State
The style contrast here was awesome. Penn State’s home uniforms are as conservative as they come. But Memphis’ All-Grey is a jolt of pure fun. This was a seriously cool matchup. PSU 53-39 MEM
#12) Alamo Bowl: Utah vs Texas
I’m not in love with this Utah set, but Red/White/Black was a smart combo to pair against Texas’s White/Orange/White. I really liked the colors in this one. UT 38-10 UTAH
#11) Rose Bowl: Wisconsin vs Oregon
You can’t beat the way the Pasadena sunset fell on Oregon’s chrome helmets. But if we’d had the Ducks in Apple Green and Wisconsin in red pants, this would’ve had a case for #1. UO 28-27 UW
#10) Military Bowl: North Carolina vs Temple
As good of a color matchup as we saw all bowl season. If Temple didn’t wear those dumb patriotic decals, this one would’ve been next-level pretty. UNC 55-13 TEM
#9) Citrus Bowl: Michigan vs Alabama
Don’t get me wrong, these are two awesome uniforms. They’re just not perfect together. If Bama was the road team instead, we’d have a contender for the top spot. BAMA 35-16 MICH
#8) Liberty Bowl: Kansas State vs Navy
Kansas State’s first time wearing All-White in literal decades as a sight to behold. And they were paired against Navy’s Army-Navy uniforms? Come on, that’s an easy top 10 bowl game. NAVY 20-17 KSU
#7) Quick Lane Bowl: Pittsburgh vs Eastern Michigan
The colors in this one were just about perfect. I say “just about” because if Pitt were the home team and EMU wore Green/White/Green… that’s a legendary matchup. This version, though, was still damn good. PITT 34-30 EMU
#6) Hawaii Bowl: Hawaii vs BYU
What a perfect G5 matchup. BYU should just change their primary color from navy to royal blue at this rate. And it’s hard to beat Hawaii’s awesome Black/White/Black combo. HAWAII 38-34 BYU
#5) Fiesta Bowl: Clemson vs Ohio State
This game had almost too much visual interest. Ohio State’s playoff throwbacks are awesome, and Clemson’s Orange/White/Orange is their best look. Together, they were a shock to the senses. CLEM 29-23 OHIO ST
#4) Outback Bowl: Minnesota vs Auburn
Minnesota’s gold chrome helmets have become one of my favorites in the country. And it’s hard to beat Auburn, who’s as good at the uniforms thing as anyone. Yeah, this kicked ass. MINNY 31-24 AUBURN
#3) Sugar Bowl: Georgia vs Baylor
Red-vs-Green is always a compelling matchup. But Baylor’s new-and-improved All-Green uniforms are quickly approaching iconic status, and Georgia’s Red/White/Silver look is already there. It’s hard to beat this one. UGA 26-14 BU
#2) Orange Bowl: Virginia vs Florida
I mean, come on. Y’all are just pandering at this point. This was a glorious color-vs-color matchup, with both teams donning some orange for pop. I LOVED the colors in this one. UF 36-28 UVA
#1) Peach Bowl: Oklahoma vs LSU
LSU has my favorite uniforms in the sport, and they hooked horns with my alma mater. So right off the bat, this was an exciting matchup for me. Add to it that LSU’s gold popped against Oklahoma’s crimson under Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s innovative lighting, and you have yourself an instant classic. Somehow, the outcome didn’t ruin the uniforms for me. That’s how you know this one was good. LSU 63-28 OU