North Carolina Tar Heels forward Garrison Brooks (15) reacts against Duke Blue Devils forward Marvin Bagley III (35) and forward Javin DeLaurier (12) during the second half of a semifinals game of the 2018 ACC tournament at Barclays Center at Barclays Center.
69.
March Madness is here, which means another year of watching live games on your phone or computer during work or school. Another year of conducting pointless research for your bracket that will ultimately be busted after 48 hours. Another year of losing your money to someone who did not watch a minute of college basketball.
While some put actual analysis and research into their NCAA Tournament predictions, others use methods like judging team mascots or even uniforms. To expedite the latter process, we ranked the entire field based off their uniforms alone.
Team uniform brands vary in the world of college basketball and include everyone from world-renowned brands like Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour to smaller basketball brands like Russell Athletic. Nike has shown its dominance in college hoops as of late, but a lot of teams, especially mid-majors, have opted to go the Under Armour route. So you're guaranteed to see the legendary programs like Duke, North Carolina, and Villanova near the top of the list, but a few mid-majors have snuck into the top-tier of our uniform rankings as well.
Without further ado, here are the best uniforms in this year’s NCAA Tournament from 68 to 1.
68.Marshall
These uniforms are all types of wrong. When your dominant color is this type of green, you don’t emphasize it. Insert puke emoji.
67.Lipscomb
Well, first that font looks straight off of Microsoft World. Second, the gold is poorly executed. Nike, save these guys.
66.UMBC
I had to double-take real quick. I thought these were exact replicas of the Bel-Air Academy uniforms worn by Will Smith and Carlton Banks. Send these back to Under Armour and get a refund.
65.Charleston
64.Texas Southern
These uniforms are pretty bad but let’s be real here...you’re still rocking Russell Athletic uniforms? Your automatic bid needs to be stripped after that.
63.Loyola-Chicago
I’d just blame the school colors for this one. It’s kind of hard to create anything cool with these colors.
62.South Dakota State
Mike Daum and his Jackrabbits seem to be a constant in the NCAA Tournament. That might be a good thing for them but for us, it’s an eyesore. Stop winning!
61.Murray State
60.Nevada
Nevada has an absurd amount of uniforms, so was it fair that I chose these ones for representation? Yes, because you wore them more than once when you shouldn’t have worn them at all. "Pack" these in the trash can.
59.North Carolina Central
In the words of Drake, “I’m just saying you can do better.”
58.Auburn
It’s really a shame that Auburn has to hoop in these, because the Tigers have a good squad. But these are the worst uniforms out of all the high-major teams in the tournament.
57.North Carolina State
These only looked good when Dennis Smith Jr. was throwing down tomahawks and windmills in them. NC State, you’re too big of a basketball program to have these trash uniforms.
56.Georgia State
Under Armour blew a great uniform opportunity for a school with solid team colors. Yikes.
55.Stephen F. Austin
Not a fan of the purple. Pass.
54.Cal State Fullerton
Gradient. Uniforms. Are. Not. For. Everyone.
53.Missouri
These are actually much better than the other gold uniforms we’ve seen, but still...eh. How Missouri got the Porter brothers to rock these is beyond me?
52.TCU
TCU has some really nice football uniforms. It seems like Nike didn't invest the same energy and funds toward basketball.
51.UNC Greensboro
The UNCG lettering doesn’t really fit the uniform, but overall, this isn’t that bad for a mid-major.
50.Tennessee
Aren’t the Volunteers known for the checkerboard pattern? How did let Kentucky create better checkerboard pattern uniforms than y’all? Major L.
49.Arkansas
All these football dominant schools are really sucking it up in the uniform category. Here’s another. No excuse to put out a mediocre uniform when your school colors are red and white. It’s also really hard to mess up a black and red jersey but the Razorbacks found a way.
48.St. Bonaventure
The Bonnies can ball and they showed that in their win over UCLA in the First Four. Their uniforms are subpar, but they made the best out of their brown colors.
47.New Mexico State
“Aggies” is way too big on the chest but it isn’t horrendous for an Under Armour uniform.
46.Montana
45.LIU Brooklyn
If you saw the Nike LIU Brooklyn uniforms that were worn in 2013, you’d appreciate these more. If you’re going rep a borough, you better up your game a bit more though.
44.Cincinnati
Cincinnati jerseys were poppin’ when the Bearcats were under Jordan. They’ve hopped from Adidas to Under Armour. Not poppin’ anymore.
43.Purdue
These are just boring uniforms to be honest. Just like Purdue’s success this year, we’re not impressed and we’re not buying it.
42.Texas Tech
The font and composition of the uniform is pretty basic. It does the job but the creativity is limited.
41.Texas A&M
The gray uniform concept is cool but it feels like there is a lot going on with the uniform.
40.Oklahoma
Trae Young is elite—but these uniforms are not. They’re not terrible, though. As I said earlier, it’s hard to fail with red and white, and these get a passing grade.
39.Penn
Oh yeah, we’re going there. The Ivy League has a little swag. The Quakers got a little game, too.
38.Wright State
Wright State’s colors are hunter green and gold. Their road uniforms are black and white. I don’t know how the Raiders finessed that but bravo Wright State. These are fly.
37.Michigan State
Unlike Marshall, Michigan State doesn’t overdo it with green on its uniforms but the Spartans still don’t have an extremely appealing jersey, either.
36.Virginia
Hints of navy and orange is usually a no-no but Virginia makes it work. Good balance of the colors.
35.Bucknell
This is another good mix of blue and orange.
34.Rhode Island
The shades of blue are a nice touch on the uniform. The waist of the shorts are questionable but everything else is respectable.
33.Davidson
I’m surprised Steph Curry hasn’t gotten his squad on the Under Armour flow yet. These alternates are nice for the Wildcats.
32.Ohio State
We go from Steph’s alma mater to LeBron James’ honorary alma mater. Besides the material, the design of the Ohio State uniform hasn’t changed much in the past few years.
31.Wichita State
Wichita State would be much higher if they still wore the black uniforms with “Shockers” on the front but these will do.
30.San Diego State
Anytime a team goes with a modern retro version, it usually never fails. This is a dope look for the Aztecs.
29.Arizona
The Wildcats’ uniform is alright. It’s just not amazing as it should be for a national powerhouse.
28.West Virginia
The Mountaineers have pretty much had the same uniforms for a decade with slight adjustments. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
27.Radford
This is a good example of a simple concept that amounts to fire. These Radford unis are underrated.
26.Arizona State
Arizona State, in general, has some disgusting colors, but these uniforms are actually solid. Adidas loves decorating the waist too much but it works here.
25.Texas
There are three teams that can pull off the classic predominantly orange look. Texas is one of them.
24.Syracuse
And the Orange is another. Straight classics.
23.Creighton
They didn’t have these unis when Doug McBuckets was at Creighton. They’ve come a long way from those oversized, baggy uniforms.
22.Florida State
These uniforms are pretty underrated. Usually these colors would get trashed for some reason, but the Seminoles make it work.
21.Buffalo
This blue is beautiful.
20.Kansas State
There’s a lot going with these uniforms but they’re still terrific.
19.Kansas
The Jayhawks hold this spot based on respect of their tradition. It’s an iconic jersey in college basketball. Otherwise, it’d probably be much lower.
18.Houston
Black and blue is undefeated, but black and red isn’t far behind. The names and numbers don’t pop off the uniform, but in this case, it works.
17.Providence
The NCAA should require every team to have a black alternate.
16.Butler
Remember those days when Butler was always the underdog from the Horizon League? Now they play in the Big East and got the Nike plug.
15.Alabama
Finally, a football school in the SEC that nails a uniform.
14.Clemson
And the best team in orange goes to the Clemson Tigers. They don’t have the basketball history like Texas or Cuse, but they definitely look better.
13.Iona
These are FRESH. Iona will likely only play one game in the tournament, but at least they’ll look good. They by far have the best mid-major unis in the tournament—not counting Gonzaga because they should not be classified as a mid-major.
12.Michigan
That Jumpman holds some weight. Anytime you’re wearing gear with it you’re catapulted to elite status.
11.Xavier
Xavier has plenty of options that could go on this list but we’ll shoutout the home whites. Simple and beautiful.
10.UCLA
It’s just tradition. Not even Under Armour can ruin UCLA’s legendary uniforms with their slight adjustments.
9.Virginia Tech
The Hokies’ threads need way more respect. The font is top notch and the colors mesh smoothly. It’s a hit.
8.Kentucky
Kentucky took tradition from SEC rival Tennessee and made it better. Kind of like how Coach K took Calipari’s recruiting method and made it better.
7.Miami
Trust me, these will grow on you if you don’t enjoy them at first sight. This is some of Adidas’ best work in college.
6.Villanova
Philly sports can take no Ls in 2018 and these Nova unis are another W for the city.
5.Seton Hall
These are the sleeper uniforms of the 68-team field and it’s probably Under Armour’s best work. The players still have to wear Currys with it but at least the uniforms are fresh.
4.Gonzaga
No one, absolutely no one has a better nickname on their jersey than Zags.
3.Florida
Florida has an insane amount of combinations but these take the cake. The classic gator blue and orange is tough to beat.
2.Duke
You love to hate them but there’s no way you can hate these unis. Duke is the poster child for Nike college basketball, even over Oregon who founder Phil Knight holds dear to his heart.
1.North Carolina
And the King of the Dance for the best uniforms in March Madness is the defending national champions, the North Carolina Tar Heels. Somehow, the Heels made argyle swaggy and their traditional look has aged like fine wine.