RR Ralphie Report: The Colorado Buffaloes uniforms that were (and weren’t) in 2023

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Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

We can all agree to bring back the traditional unis, right?

When Deion Sanders came to town last season, he brought a new uniform philosophy with him. Coach Prime installed the Oregon/Jackson State model to Boulder, opting to wear a brand new uniform combo every single week. These new combos provided us with new fire uniforms, but it also gave us some undeniable stinkers. So at long last, let’s rank all of Colorado’s uniform combinations from 2023.

11: Black helmet, grey jersey, grey pants

Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images

Black, grey, grey was the only combination that the Buffs wore twice in 2023, donning them against both USC and Arizona. Unfortunately, they opted to only wear their worst combination more than once.

The grey uniform and pants on their own are fine (I guess), but they look awful paired with the black helmet. If you’re gonna commit to the gunmetal silver look, you have to make the helmet the same color. It also doesn’t help that the Buffs lost both games in which they wore their grey unis, especially in that heartbreaking Arizona game that they should have won.

I’m giving Deion an ultimatum: give us all grey uniforms with a grey helmet or just cut the greys from the uniform rotation all together. This uniform combo just flat out stinks and I’m ready to see it get taken out to the pasture.

10: White helmet, white jersey, gold pants

Photo by Tom Hauck/Getty Images

I don’t want to sound overdramatic, but I HATE this uniform combo. Not only because we got absolute torched by Oregon while wearing these monstrosities, but also because they’re unbelievably ugly. It looks like the team is wearing a white polo shirt with khaki shorts while donning these bad boys. All this jersey combo needs to complete the frat boy look is a backwards dad hat and the cheapest case of beer you can possibly find to lug around.

Anytime a football uniform is giving off khaki pants vibes, that’s probably a bad sign. These uniforms need to leave immediately. I’m going to be a very unhappy camper if I ever see the team wear these again.

9: Black helmet, white jersey, white pants

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You’re likely going to start to see a bit of a pattern here. The Buffs don’t actually have that many different uniform combinations, so they have to simply change up one little aspect of the uniform for the sake of being “new” and “unique”.

Need a brand new uniform combo? Well, just roll the team out in the white uniforms and have them wear a black helmet! Unfortunately, this doesn’t work for me.

Nothing in this uniform combo is particularly bad, but the black helmet contrasted with the white and gold trimmed jerseys sticks out like a sore thumb. This jersey combo just kinda looks lazy and sloppily thrown together. I’m hoping that Deion opts to not bring this one back for 2024.

8: Black helmet, black jersey, white pants

Photo by Nick Tre. Smith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

This uniform combo seems to be the most controversial from the Buffs’ 2023 selection, but I don’t think they’re that bad. My hot take is that the use of no gold on this uniform is actually pretty cool and unique. The white pants do clash with the rest of the all-black uniform, but I don’t think that it’s a deal breaker. It also helps that we beat the snot out of Nebraska in these unis, so I wouldn’t mind if they returned in 2024.

7: White helmet, black jersey, black pants

Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images

We’re officially out of stinker territory and into the mediocre zone. These uniforms aren’t bad at all, but they’re just a little bit uninspired. Slapping a white helmet on the all-black uniforms isn’t the most creative, but it certainly works in my eyes. Colorado’s all black and white look is a bit underrated in my opinion. I really don’t mind this combo and wouldn’t be upset if we see it again, although we definitely have way better options.

6: Gold helmet, white jersey, white pants

Colorado uniforms tonight at Wazzu #cubuffs pic.twitter.com/5Pzhj3s4V6

— Brian Howell (@BrianHowell33) November 18, 2023​

This is the closest we got to the classic stormtroopers in 2023 and I don’t think they’re half bad. While the gold helmet does bog this combo down a little bit, I think it works pretty well. Nothing about this uniform combination looks bad. The gold helmet is iconic and the all-white jerseys with the black trimming are starting to become under-utilized. It’s a shame that we got beaten to a pulp by Wazzu in these solid threads.

5: Gold helmet, black jersey, black pants

Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images

This is a VERY good uniform combo. The black pants work well in this setting, especially when worn at night. Everything about this uniform combo hits, but I do have one massive gripe with these guys.

Don’t take this the wrong way, but they’re just too close to the traditional uniforms for me. These threads kinda just look like if you ordered the traditional unis from some cheap, boot-leg jersey company. At that point, just wear the gold pants and commit to the classic look. That’s the sole reason they aren’t higher on this list

4: Black helmet, white jersey, gold pants

Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images

This marks the beginning of the absolute heat. These jersey’s were the only time that Colorado wore three different colors in 2023 and it just hits different. The white jerseys with the shiny gold lettering paired with the gold pants is so clean. The black helmet also pairs well with the piping on the numbers and the Nike logo. The rule of threes is a very real thing and these uniforms act as a testament to that.

3: Black helmet (gold face-mask), white jersey, black pants

Photo by Bruce Yeung/Getty Images

The Buffs debuted a new black helmet with a gold face-mask against Arizona State this season and I think I fell in love at first sight. This is easily a top 2 CU helmet for me (you just can’t beat the golds). The brand new helmet paired with the white jersey with black lettering and black pants is nearly perfect in my eyes. I can’t think of any way this combination could be any better.

2: White helmet, white jersey, white pants

Photo by Matthew Visinsky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

This was EASILY the Buffs’ best new uniform combo in 2023. Taking the stormtroopers and giving them shiny gold lettering? Sign me the hell up.

Colorado opened their season in these impeccable uniforms and couldn't beat them with any of their other new combinations. These needs to become a mainstay of Colorado football from here on out. I absolute love this look to the point where I am tempted to buy one of these new white jerseys. Nothing can beat it, except for...

1: The Traditional Combo

What more do I even need to say? Nothing can beat the traditional uniforms. It’s a damn shame we only saw them once in 2023. As fellow Ralphie Reporter Cam Ellis said in his year recap, we probably would have won 2-3 extra games if we wore the classics for every home game. That’s the sheer amount of power that this uniform exudes.

by RylandScholes
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