The poll results are in so far for the OU uniform debate.  The traditionalists are leading with 42% of the votes and the with some alternates in second with 25% of the votes.  The numerous comments on the Sooner4OU blog and Facebook page were very opinionated and strong.  Especially the traditionalists who don’t want the university to compromise o the uniforms and to keep OU’s conservative traditions alive.

The Sooner Nation in-large is a very diverse crowd that unifies quickly when it comes to favoring tradition over flavor of the month or bandwagon activities.  Many of the comments were they did not want to be like Oregon or OSU no matter what.  The were a few traditionalists comments that said they were fine with an occasional throwback or updated alternate, as long as, it did not have black in it or look gimmicky (like metallic helmets).

So what does this all mean, well at least at this point, the Sooner Nation favors little change and an emphasis on tradition and selling our potential recruits on our winning tradition, first-rate facilities and top coaches versus bling.

What do you think about the results of this poll?  What about the traditionalists stance?

Sooner4OU Commentary: The college football uniform debate rages on (please cast your important vote in the poll at the bottom of this post)  It seems the Nike Oregon uniform experiment continues to blossom and force other teams to consider alternate uniforms to stay competitive in the recruiting battles. It was Western Kentucky changing their helmets this week, Mississippi State last week, Texas Tech earlier this month and Michigan, Notre Dame and others before that.  It is a wave of change that continues to spread across college football with the Nike versus Adidas contest only push it further and faster.  Where will it all end, no one seems to know,but it has pitted the traditionalists against moderates and the new wave branders and their un-yielding uniform beliefs.

OU has experimented with alternate  and throwback uniforms during  the Stoops era and they have tried different color schemes as well, but stayed relatively tame compared to their elite counterparts.   Many of these alternate uniforms have been largely replicas of historical uniforms like the ones seen in the Heritage Arts image to the left.  In which you can also see the OU uniforms over time have changed as either their equipment became more modern or the athletic department decided to modernize the uniform accordingly.

So that brings us to the current debate at OU over their football uniforms.  Multiple press outlets have  recently reported on the on-going uniform debate and that Bob Stoops is against any extreme change and the use of the color black .  Adding to the debate this week, Brennan Clay tweeted on the need for alternate uniforms and how he really liked the oregon uniforms and he believes it affects recruiting.  This re-sparked the debate and got a bunch of players, fans and others riled up and going back and forth on whether a change on OU’s uniform stance should occur.  It seems that the university of Oklahoma is happy with their conservative approach they have employed in respect to their uniforms.  Maybe some throwbacks or slight alternative uniforms, but limited change under the guise of keeping tradition, which has kept the traditionalists restrained and kept the debate in the forefront among players and recruits. The new age branders, who see an alternative like something along the lines of the Nike Pro Combat Helmet Design for Oklahoma designed by Charles Sollars, as having a positive affect on recruiting and giving OU a branding edge compared to those that don’t consider alternate uniforms.  They say that OU’s national brand can only be enhanced with the younger generation keeping OU on the minds of recruits in high school, when consider multiple schools.  They also claim that the University of Oklahoma could generate more merchandising revenue by utilizing more throwback and alternate uniforms.  So the debate rages on in the Sooner Nation.

There is no doubt that many recruits like alternate uniforms and it can influence their college choices.  It has allowed Oregon (see the The Oregonian image to the left) to recruit  at a high level, and to elevate their ability to compete with the elite teams in division one quickly.  Don’t believe that uniforms have some positive affect on a mid-level school, well does anyone remember the Ducks as a powerhouse in the 90s, 80s or before?  Not likely… of course the spread offense and having Phil Knight, the CEO of Nike as alumni helped, but the uniforms have definitely raised Oregon’s brand awareness significantly.

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