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As I’ve discussed in this column before, uniforms are an essential component to a pro sports team’s identity. The same could also be said for college football teams, however, most colleges have a longer and more prestigious history than NFL teams. Also, uniforms may not be the most important factor for a recruit coming out of high school, but they could also be the difference maker in their decision.

In the spirit of the college football season being a month away, and the recent release of the new EA Sports College Football 25 video game, here are my personal favorite college football uniforms.

When it comes to underused colors in sports, what color comes to mind for you? For me, it’s purple. The Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz and Minnesota Vikings are just a few pro sports teams that have utilized purple well, but in the college ranks, I don’t think that there is a better purple uniform than that of the Kansas State Wildcats football team.

The current Kansas State uniforms were introduced in their first iteration in 1989 and the home uniforms feature the school’s official color of royal purple with white and silver striping on the sleeves. The home jerseys are usually paired with silver helmets and silver pants.

When flipping through the countless amount of college football games on TV on Saturdays in the fall, their purple and silver uniforms immediately catch my eyes. Overall, I would say that the Kansas State Wildcats have the most underrated look in college football.

Speaking of the color purple, the next entry on this list belongs to the LSU Tigers.

In the same vein as the Dallas Cowboys, the LSU Tigers wear their white uniforms at home, which contain yellow-gold and purple stripes and are paired with a yellow-gold helmet and pants. The helmet features an “LSU” wordmark and a fierce looking tiger head logo.

Because the Tigers typically wear white at home, their contrasting purple jerseys, which look just as good, are rarely worn throughout the season and are reserved for home non-conference games.

The combination of purple and yellow-gold is hard to beat, but the final entry on this list is a team that needs no introduction to the folks in the great state of Tennessee. Of course I am talking about the Tennessee Volunteers.

It may just be my personal bias, but I personally don’t see how people hate the color orange, especially the bright and vibrant shade of Tennessee orange

For home games, the Vols sport plain jerseys with their unique shade of orange. The jerseys are usually paired with a white helmet that features a single orange stripe that runs down the center and the iconic power “T” on the sides as well as white paints that feature a double orange stripe.

Apart from their usual home and away uniforms, the Vols have been a little more creative in recent years, introducing their current Smokey gray uniforms in 2015 that feature a subtle Smokey Mountain pattern on the helmets. In 2021, the team introduced their “dark mode” uniforms, an all-black look that makes for an intimidating appearance, especially under the lights of a night game.

There are still dozens of college football teams that have excellent or even iconic uniforms that I didn’t cover here, but for my money, the three schools that I mentioned have the best uniforms in the nation. Which college team’s uniforms stand out the most to you?