Nike Unveils Fauxback Uniforms for 7 Colleges

February is right around the corner, which means that March is right down the street, which means that the NCAA Basketball Tournament will be happening very soon. As such, it makes sense that Nike would use the occasion of the impending tournament to give seven lucky schools an opportunity to get new uniforms. Duke, Kentucky, Michigan State, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oregon, and Syracuse will all be wearing special throwback-inspired uniforms for various games throughout the month of February via Nike’s “Hyper Elite Dominance” program. From the press release:

Nike recognizes the tradition of college basketball and long-standing rivalries with seven special uniforms that fuse premium apparel innovation with school heritage.
The 2014 Nike Hyper Elite Dominance uniform celebrates the past and present of seven outstanding programs. The distinct jersey and short combination will be worn in select upcoming games.
All seven uniforms honor each school’s winning tradition with special logos, scripts and colors mined from each program’s past.

While Kentucky, Duke, & North Carolina all elected to go with somewhat tame yet stylish designs that are very similar to their actual throwback uniforms, Michigan State, Oregon, Ohio State, & Syracuse all decided to put modern spins on old classics.

Michigan State has worn throwback uniforms many times in recent history, and they’ve flirted with adding gold to their athletic identity across multiple sports so it makes sense that their fauxback would let gold play a prominent role. Oregon, Ohio State, and Syracuse are also interesting in that they went with one of the staples of throwback basketball uniforms: different colored jerseys & shorts. While Syracuse & Ohio State are pretty close to their actual throwbacks, the flashy colors & modern striping on the shorts allow Oregon to really stand out from the crowd in this set & also serve to distance them from the actual throwbacks. Once again, it’s no shock that Oregon gets the most “interesting” look when it comes to a Nike initiative.

As for when you’ll see these teams take the court in these uniforms, Nike also laid out exactly when each school will wear these uniforms:

The uniforms will make their debut on-court beginning in early February. Dates include Michigan State vs. Georgetown (2/1), Ohio State vs. Michigan (2/11), Duke vs. Maryland (2/15), Kentucky vs. Florida (2/15), Syracuse vs. Boston College (2/19), UNC vs. Wake Forest (2/22) and Oregon vs. Washington State (2/23).

So, what are your thoughts? How do you think they compare to adidas & Kansas’ stab at fauxbacks? Better or worse? There’s plenty of uniforms up there so there’s much discussion to be had here!