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Most patriotic college football alt uniform power rankings
College football teams have been enthusiastic about showing their patriotism on the field.
In honor of Veterans Day, we rank the best of the patriotic uniforms worn by college football teams.
It seems nearly every college football program across this great nation has worn some form of red-white-and-blue/flag-themed helmet logo. Purdue is the pick here because the matted black helmet helps intensify the colors of patriotism even more than it does on other helmets.
In its "Salute to Service" game against Oregon, Arizona State honored the late Pat Tillman -- an ASU alum -- with "PT-42" uniforms that were a replica of the unis Tillman wore as a member of the 1996 Sun Devils team during its run to the Rose Bowl. Each players' nameplate read "Tillman". Arizona State went even further to honor Tillman in the game, pushing the defending Pac-12 champion Ducks to triple overtime before finally falling, 61-55, in the epic contest.
As noted above, there have been countless helmet-logo-as-American-flag incarnations recently. However, any cool alternate uniform unleashed by a service academy is decidedly more cool by default, because ... it's being done by a service academy. Army wore camo-colored helmet-number logos for a game against Connecticut at Yankee Stadium, and the result was glorious.
Camo is just way too appropriate for the Black Knights to sport and we'd suggest a permanent move to such a look, but then that would prevent the creation of other alternate looks from the service academies on a more epic scale.
Northwestern toed the fine line between art and carnage with a special uniform designed to help create awareness for the Wounded Warrior Project. The uniform drew criticism for making people feel uncomfortable over splattered red coloring that was interpreted as blood.
Boston College produced an understated and appropriate nod to an alum who lost his life on Sept. 11, 2001. In an upset of USC during the 2014 season, Boston College wore red bandana-themed gear to honor Welles Crowther, who was a 24-year-old equity trader in New York who died while helping save lives during the 9/11 attacks. Crowther was wearing a red bandana to protect himself from smoke on that day. He was also known for wearing a red bandana under his helmet when playing lacrosse at Boston College.
Navy unleashed amazing "Don't Tread On Me" uniforms for its annual game against Army in 2014. The rattlesnake emblem with the "Don't Tread on Me" slogan is famously associated with Revolutionary War-era America. A red-and-white striped "Don't Tread" flag was flown (we assume with intense pride) by the Continental Navy. All U.S. Navy ships flew the "Don't Tread On Me" flag -- as per an order in 2002 -- throughout the duration of the war on terrorism.
Navy opened the 2014 season in stellar fashion, pushing Ohio State to the brink of a monumental upset while wearing some of the best uniforms ever created. The uniform was designed to mimic the Navy's Summer Whites military uniform. The helmet featured an anchor. Stripes along the shoulder pads and pants were used to identify a player's rank in the Naval Academy.
The War of 1812 is a relatively little-known, yet symbolically significant, conflict in American history that spawned the national anthem. Written during the British forces' bombardment during the Battle of Baltimore on Sept. 14, 1814, the poem "Defence of Fort McHenry" was a vital part of a football uniform worn by Maryland in 2014. The outline of Fort McHenry, colored with the American flag, served as the helmet logo, and words from Francis Scott Key's poem grace the helmet shell and jersey sleeves. This is all made to honor the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Baltimore at Fort McHenry and the dramatic anthem it inspired.
The 113th meeting of the Army and Navy football teams featured a Black Knights uniform that commemorated the Battle of the Bulge, a seminal moment toward ultimate victory in the European theater of World War II. Emblazoned through the players' jersey numbers was a map of the region in which the German offensive and Allied counteroffensive took place. Each map featured detailed typography, unit identification and troop movements. The uniforms are awe-inspiring on an epic scale. These Army uniforms aren't just the greatest of the college football patriotic alternate uniforms, but arguably the greatest college football alternate uniform of all time.
