UMass Minutemen (1975-77)

Apparently, I haven't done a self-contained UMass post since November. Let's fix that.

When I did my first UMass post way back when, I think I mentioned something about the 1970s UMass logo being one of my favorites ever. It really is. I mean, look at this bad boy:

There's just something about the minuteman here, looking ready to kick ass and defend the honor of his school, while flanked between the "U" and the "M." It's not like any other college logo from the era, when realistic animal drawings were the trend (unlike today, when a school logo consists of a plain letter, then the designer sits back and says, "Whew, I'm done"). 

This logo doesn't say "UMass" anywhere on it, but take one look and you know what school it represents. It was used on the helmets from 1974-84 and remained the school's official logo until the early 1990s, when it was replaced by, for lack of a better phrase, the "Calipari logo."

Memo to UMass: BRING THIS BACK FOR HOMECOMING! I'm not asking for much ... right???

A couple nice closeups of the classic UMass helmet,
from the Index yearbook. The headline is a reference to the Minutemen's
disappointing (by their standards) 5-5 '76 season.

The rest of the uniform continues the basic look the Minutemen had throughout the 70s, plain, streamlined design with names on the back and stripes on the socks (note the white shoes added for '76). But that helmet improves the entire uniform.

These two pictures are from 1977.

Much, much more from the Minutemen: 2015, 2014, 2013, 2000-02, 1986-87, 1978-84, 1974, 1972, 1966-68, 1960-62, 1951-52, 1938-39.

The cheerleaders' unis, on the other hand, retained the older "UM" logo
that were on the helmets in the early 70s.