The best college football uniforms belong to the Oregon Ducks. We all know it. But how did the Oregon Ducks football uniforms history trend toward Oregon having the best college football uniforms? That’s what we’ll look at in this post before listing the top 10 Oregon Ducks uniforms of all time.
Oregon Ducks Football Uniforms History
The Oregon Ducks are now famous for uniforms that push the limits of football design, and pair nicely on both the lists of the best and worst college alternative uniforms. For a long time, Oregon Duck uniforms looked like any other uniform in the college football world. At times, the uniforms were even mocked for bright yellow and green colorings and the non-intimidating mascot of a duck.
But things would not stay this way for Oregon in the 21st century. When Oregon reached the Rose Bowl in 1995, Phil Knight got involved. The co-founder of Nike, Phil Knight, is a graduate of Oregon and built a special relationship with the athletic programs. Starting in 1999, Oregon would begin revising its entire uniform setup about every three seasons. In 2005 and 2006, the team’s uniform combination possibilities increased to 512 possible combinations, including the option of a metallic-yellow helmet with silver frames that reflected sunlight. Uniforms change almost every week, and Nike executive Tinker Hatfield helps design the new uniform combinations.
Best College Football Uniforms
Oregon uniforms are now synonymous with the latest and greatest uniforms in college football. They’re also synonymous with the branding and design that has made Nike into a worldwide athletic company. In fact, many other universities realized that they were losing young recruits who wanted to play for Oregon because they had a great team and equally great uniforms. It pushed other universities to develop better uniforms and pay attention to the design of their sports teams.
So yes, in many ways, Oregon now carries the best college football uniforms. But they have more than just the best football uniforms—they have great uniforms across a variety of different sports.
Top 10 Oregon Ducks Uniforms of All Time
If anything, Ducks gear is cool to wear. The Ducks have had some amazing uniforms over the years, and so we’re breaking the top 10 uniforms into a few different categories. In no particular order with no particular ranking, here are the best Oregon football helmets and uniforms, Oregon basketball uniforms, and other Oregon sports uniforms:
Oregon Football Helmets and Uniforms
Space Age
The first uniforms to be designed after Phil Knight got involved, the so-called “space age” uniforms were a bold departure from what most of college football was doing at the time. Most college football teams had uniforms that were stuck in the 20th century. The uniforms featured a lot of neutral or basic colors, with a single accent color and the logo on the helmet. The Space Age uniforms, coming in the late 90s, were a clear message from Oregon that their athletic program was not going to be stuck in old designs and bad fashion.
The uniforms featured black or white bases, with green and yellow accent marks. The helmets, the crown jewel of the uniform, were a turquoise green with a nice gleam to it—a stark departure from matte or simple shiny helmets.
2006 Las Vegas Bowl
The second era of the Oregon uniform craze officially began with the 2006 Las Vegas Bowl, when Oregon moved out of a space age and into metallics and patterns. The Las Vegas Bowl uniforms featured gold helmets with silver flames on them. The shoulder pads had silver and white patterns, and the base of the uniform was forest green and black. The numbers and markings on the pants featured their now-signature neon yellow.
2012 Rose Bowl
Another 6 years went by and then the next phase of Oregon uniforms hit during the 2012 Rose Bowl. In this bowl game, Oregon pulled out their first (of many more to come) chrome helmets. The chrome helmets were paired with emerald green jerseys and yellow numbers.
2014 Nike Vapor
Solidifying their desire to ever expand their “temporary” school colors, the Oregon Ducks brought Nike Vapor uniforms to the 2014 season. These uniforms featured bright yellow helmets with silver duck wings on them, along with silver and gold duck wings on the shoulder pads and high on the chest. Ridiculous uniforms, but ridiculously cool. The good news about any Oregon Ducks football game is that you can wear the wildest gameday attire that you want, and you still won’t look as wild as the players.
Oregon Basketball Uniforms
2019 Oregon Women’s Basketball
The Oregon Women’s Basketball team will have some of the freshest uniforms on the court in the 2019-2020 season. The uniforms feature an all white look with emerald green markings and simple stripes on the shorts.
Oregon Men’s Duckwing Green Shorts
Similar to the white and emerald uniforms that the women’s team are wearing in 2019-2020 season, the men's team has a uniform that is all white with Oregon green duckwings extending from the bottom of their shorts. Stripes on the tank top and the numbers are also the Oregon green color.
Oregon Men’s Neon Green
They practically glow in the dark—but they don’t actually glow in the dark... as far as we know (but wow, they sure look like they could). Oregon Men’s neon green basketball uniforms have a completely neon green color scheme with black duck wings, a black O, and a black fighting duck image. It’s a bold uniform combination that you can get behind when they are winning, but suddenly become less of a fan of when they are trailing behind on the scoreboard.
Other Oregon Sports Uniforms
Track’s Camo and Yellow
When the Oregon track team debuted their camo and yellow uniforms, it quickly turned some heads. They paired an Oregon green camouflage pattern on the chest and the back, but bright neon yellow stripes down the sides of the uniform. The contrast between the unassuming camo and the bright neon is what makes these track uniforms so memorable.
Oregon Golf’s “Trees Polo”
You’d remember if you’ve seen these uniforms before. The Oregon golf team once wore polo shirts that had bright green trees at the bottom, fading up into white at the top with the Oregon logo. The golf team looked great in these polos. While unconventional (and at this point, what part of any of their uniforms are), it somehow seems to work.
Oregon Tennis Breast Cancer Awareness
Oregon’s tennis team wore a black and pink tennis uniform, with simple markings and a black base. The uncomplicated uniform was a nice contrast with the brighter tennis uniforms that Oregon’s tennis team is known for. To complement the look, the players wore pink headbands, wristbands, and accents to match.
Final Thoughts
Love the Ducks as much as you do their uniform choices? Don’t miss out on the latest Oregon Ducks gear! Update your team spirit with t-shirts and hats to match, by searching a complete lineup of officially licensed Oregon Ducks gear. Support your team in the same great style that the players love.
