Uniform March Madness: AAC Region

March Madness is just around the corner, and for some, that will be enough to tide them over until fall. In the spirit of the madness, a bracket has been created to determine who has the best uniforms among our Underdogs. The four “regions” include the AAC, Conference USA, Sun Belt, and 12 FCS teams.

Seeds are based on conference record since the regions are separate by conference (FCS teams were chosen based on rankings). So the number doesn’t necessarily reflect the quality of the teams’ uniforms, but more of a way to put them in order.

The best part about this is that you get to decide who wins! Each post will contain a poll in which you can vote for which team has better uniforms. If your team had a rough season in 2016, then you are in luck! Your team may have tanked all season, but if they looked good while doing so, they have a chance! Each post in the first two rounds will allow you to vote for 48 hours until the next post comes up. All four brackets will come together where one grand champion will be selected!

We start with our first region: the AAC Region, and we start with Round 1. Below is a look at the bracket and rankings:

If you can’t see the bracket or poll, click here for the bracket and click here for the poll.

Make sure you vote above, and if you need a brief summary of each matchup, you can find those below.

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#8 SMU MUSTANGS VS #9 TULANE GREEN WAVE

SMU

COLORS: Red, Blue

BRAND: Nike

SUMMARY: Minus the first two games, the Mustangs utilized multiple combinations each week. We also saw various logo alterations on the helmet, and even using grey and pink in uniforms against Houston.

TULANE

COLORS: Sky Blue, Olive

BRAND: Nike

SUMMARY: One of the surprise teams uniform-wise in 2016, Tulane pulled off a color combination that was unique. The sky blue uniforms were always clean, and the Green Wave pulled out multiple different combinations all season with sky blue, green, white, and even dark grey.

#5 MEMPHIS TIGERS VS #12 CONNECTICUT HUSKIES

MEMPHIS

COLORS: Blue, Gray

BRAND: Nike

SUMMARY: Along with different uniforms, Memphis displayed plenty of different helmet choices as well. From the school logo to the Tiger stripes, they changed things up on a regular basis. Even while switching things up, their uniforms were simple and clean.

UCONN

COLORS: Grey, navy blue, white

BRAND: Nike

SUMMARY: It was hard to get excited for the Huskies season outside of Noel Thomas, and their uniforms were pretty standard. They did add in a few wrinkles, but for the most part, there wasn’t anything vibrant.

#7 UCF KNIGHTS VS #10 CINCINNATI BEARCATS

UCF

COLORS: Black, Gold

BRAND: Nike

SUMMARY: With colors that are difficult to alter, UCF and Nike were able to use the Knights’ school colors, along with grey and white to switch things up. Not sure how ideal playing in dark uniforms in Florida is, but the Knights at least looked good.

CINCINNATI

COLORS: Black, red

BRAND: Under Armour

SUMMARY: After being with Adidas for a while, the Bearcats switched to a company on the rise in college football. Under Armour kept UC fitted with new gear every week that included different color combinations along with a multitude of patterns.

#6 HOUSTON COUGARS VS #11 EAST CAROLINA PIRATES

HOUSTON

COLORS: Scarlet red and white

BRAND: Nike

SUMMARY: For a team with so much hype entering last season, I expected them to change things up more frequently than they did. However, Houston’s uniform choices were always clean and mostly stuck to its school colors. The one combination that wasn’t tv-friendly were the gray and red uniforms, so that would be the only knock on them.

ECU

COLORS: Purple, gold

BRAND: Adidas

SUMMARY: With few school colors being purple and gold, the Pirates were bound to stick out. While Adidas has been using strange patterns in the past, it seems that their product is improving. ECU’s stuck mostly with purple and white jerseys and pants, but did throw in black jerseys and gold pants towards the end of the year to shake things up.