While college basketball uniforms have jumped the shark this year, the sport's history includes some of the most unsightly athletic uniforms you will ever see. Want proof? Feast your eyes on our rankings of College Basketball's Top 10 Ugliest BCS Conference Uniforms Ever.
College Basketball: Ugliest Uniforms Ever Slideshow
7. Marquette's Bumblebee Uniforms
Then nicknamed the Warriors, Marquette might as well have switched its moniker to Bumblebees before the 1969–70 season. The team's decision to adopt uniforms that resembled old-fashioned men's swimsuits was completely intentional. It was the brainchild of Milwaukee-based Medalist Industries and coach Al McGuire; the former sought name recognition, the latter sought something that would get potential recruits buzzing (pun intended). Not only did Marquette win the 1970 NIT title in these uniforms, it also created a high demand for them in the process. Had the NCAA not banned them following the 1971–72 season for their "psychedelic effect" on opponents, who knows how long McGuire's teams would have worn these? We're just thankful we didn't have to find out.
6. UCLA's Short-Sleeves Uniform
Is a USC graduate running the Adidas design department? That's the only explanation we can think of for the atrocity above. While the postseason uniforms that the Three Stripes came up with for the 2013 postseason are hideous as a whole, UCLA's are especially a travesty. Between the short sleeves, the Zubaz stripes on the sleeves and shorts and the general appearance of the jersey that looks more fitted for a football field, this look is a disgrace for a program with so much tradition and some of the best and classy uniforms in the country. Given that these are for the Pac-12 and NCAA tournaments, we wouldn't blame Bruin players for wanting to miss the Big Dance this year.
5. Northwestern's Night Gown Uniform
Oh, Northwestern. The only BCS conference team never to make the NCAA tournament has looked bad on the hardwood in multiple ways over the years, as awful basketball has been combined with worse uniforms over the last two decades. Case in point: Northwestern's night gown uniforms from late 1990s. Take a look at Evan Eschmeyer sporting them here. Yeah, that just happened. The ridiculous underlined lettering on the uniform with the "N" logo on either side was bad enough on its own. Throw in the silky purple cloth that looks more fitted for the women's nightware section at a T.J. Maxx and it's a wonder the Wildcats got any recruit to come to Evanston during this era. Like pretty much everything in Northwestern's basketball history, these uniforms are cringe-inducing.
4. Kansas State's Two-Toned Uniform
Purple strikes again. When you're lost in the shadow of an intrastate rival that plays on a court named after basketball's inventor, you'll do anything to try and stand out -- including making your jerseys and shorts two different tones of purple. The Wildcats' unique look was first introduced in the 1970s but didn't receive notice until 1981, during an unlikely run to the Elite Eight. "The immediate instinct is to laugh," wrote one Washington Post scribe of that Rolando Blackman-led team, "for its uniforms are the sort of two-tone purple nobody beyond a beer league would dare wear in public." ESPN's Page 2 went even further, once voting them the ugliest uniforms in all of college sports. Hilariously enough, K-State still breaks out the two-tone look every now and then, just for fun. If you're going to always be labeled as the redheaded -- err, purple-clad in this case -- stepchild, you might as well embrace it.
3. Kentucky's Cat Claw Uniform
Poor Tony Delk. One year before earning SEC Player of the Year and NCAA tournament MOP honors while sporting the previously discussed denim uniforms, he was a First Team All-SEC performer during the 1994–95 season with a serious case of cat scratch fever running down the sides of his shorts. Note to designers: Any uniform with scratch designs on it is a bad idea. Yet the mistake continues to be made nearly two decades later. Despite wearing shorts whose design was seemingly stolen from pants worn by hair metal band members, Kentucky won in these too, reaching the 1995 Elite Eight.
2. Kansas' Yellow Uniform
Most Jayhawks fans remember the 1987–88 team for "Danny and the Miracles" and their unlikely run to the national title. Unfortunately, KU's yellow uniform is also part of that historic year. Yes, in a 68–63 road victory at Western Carolina that season, Kansas wore yellow uniforms. Why yellow when the school colors are crimson and blue? Our best conjecture is that it was an ode to The Wizard of Oz ("Follow the yellow brick road ..."). Thankfully, coach Larry Brown vowed that they would never be used again after receiving significant backlash from fans. Even more horrifying than the uniforms themselves is that someone saw fit to pay $650 for one of them during a March 2011 online auction through KU's athletics website.
1. Marquette's Baby Bib Uniform
The shining moment for Marquette's basketball program, the 1977 NCAA title game win over North Carolina, came when Al McGuire's players were clad in jerseys that, at best, resembled baby bibs. At worst, it looked like maternity wear. They were the brainchild of one of McGuire's former players, Bo Ellis, who had an interest in fashion design at the time. The Chicago native provided Medalist Industries with his design, which called for the jerseys -- with "Marquette" written across the bottom -- to be purposely untucked. "We liked them," former MU guard Gary Rosenberger told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel last February. "Our coach was different and we were different as players, so those uniforms were perfect for our personality." If only we could agree with your sentiment, Gary. When you combine the baby-blue-and-gold color scheme with the baby-bib look and tiny gold shorts, you have the most hideous and emasculating uniforms in college basketball history.
For the complete slideshow of the College Basketball's Top 10 Ugliest BCS Conference Uniforms Ever, go to Lost Lettermen.
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